San Diego SFH rad average rent increase of $600/month last year (source Core Logic).  

Do the Airbnb discounting, price a little under market, make sure your cleaning fees are at or below average, looser cancellation policies will all help.

A paid off property at 5-6 cap rate should also appreciate at about 3.4% per year on average, so my real estate return at 8.4%-9.4% is reasonably close to what I'd expect in the stock market, and the income is tax advantaged.

Quote from @JD Martin: Quote from @Jay Hinrichs: Quote from @Matthew Drouin: Small wine town is all I needed to hear.Seasonal tourism is usually not a great industry in which to build a sustainable business.There are probably higher and better uses of your capital near high velocity metro areas.We have small wine towns near our city in the finger lakes region of western NY.  

The rental market here seems to be cooling and it's hard to pencil deals even if I rent by the room to achieve higher than average rents.

I fully renovated the upper unit with well-above-average finishes, and it's been averaging ~$2,850/month in gross rental income over the past 12 months as an STR on Airbnb. 

., and well above the national average of 4.1%.

Real estate investing is forgiving; the average person can still make money even with some big mistakes. 

The state’s housing is also ranked as the fourth most affordable in the country.Alabama currently has the second-lowest average property tax rate in the country at 0.4%, which helps investors keep more of the money they earn.

I’m a lifelong learner and exactly doing what you have all suggested- reading, researching, attending meetups, plan to attend conferences etc so I can continue to grow and be knowledgeable in this industry.