Currently, due to the rapidly increasing prices on the Cape, there is still a housing shortage for long term rentals, which also offer a nice "safety net" if your STR doesn't go as planned. 

STRA acts as a resource hub and advocacy platform, providing a plethora of resources, networking opportunities, and support services tailored to encourage best practices, regulatory compliance, and business growth in the short-term rental industry.HistoryThe Short Term Rental Association was established to address the unique challenges and needs prevalent in the rapidly expanding short-term rental industry.

It may not seem like much, but it taking 2-5 seconds to get from one field to another becomes a real hassle.When we signed up for buildium, knowing they were a startup, I was hoping that they would have some rapid development to make their product better, but we were 4 months into using it and only one new feature was implemented, which should have taken a weekend to do.

@Mia TrasoliniThere are actually tons of variables but I'm familiar with the areas you speak of since I'm a San Diegan / investor myself.Couple of points to consider1) If you're at a bottom of the real estate cycle - sketchy areas can improve rapidly, if you're near the top, the former sketchy areas are now gentrified.

This is due to increasing demand and decreasing supply, as shown in the charts below.Rentals - Availability by MonthThe number of homes for rent dropped rapidly in the last three months, showing decreasing supply.Rentals - Median Time to RentMedian time to rent dropped significantly since February, indicating increasing demand.Rentals - Months of SupplyJust one month of supply for our target rental property profile.

April was another very busy and rapid month when it comes to the Denver Metro real estate market goes.

In this case let's say a New Construction Townhome in a high desire, rapidly growing, great renting market.

Once they add up all the qualified deposits for 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, or 24 months (yes, they can be any of these increments - lesser is a higher rate!)

Kalispell has been growing rapidly the last few years and prices are absurd so this is definitely a cheaper alternative... but who wants to drive 45-60 minutes to work?  

Overall, TK tends to be a play for sideline affluent investors looking to diversify and park capital...perhaps even an intentional loss to offset high wages.Columbus is an partially transitional, partially stable market with big growth and rapid price appreciation...think Denver 15-years ago.