Don't use bait as this just will draw bugs.

Then that repeats for each phase until the project is done; this setup is often called taking "construction draws".The reason for this is that it protects the lender by never letting their loan amount get above a certain percent of the property value (LTV or loan-to-value).

If a place draws higher revenues as a STR (in most cases seasonal but there are outliers) it is usually not a place that needs LTR all year long.  

If I draw up a contract that clearly delineates pay-ins, pay-outs and responsibilities for ownership for a property could this work?

Quick Disclosure: I understand my question may draw an opinionated response and there truly is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

How do you draw the line as to what to bill the tenants for (ie, use their security deposit for) versus just writing it off as bad luck.

If you were to draw a square with Clinton and Flemington being the western corners and say, Martinsville and Bound Brook being the eastern, that would be the area where I spend the most time and effort in research and marketing.

this is why all those Casino's got rebuilt.. this is why many car dealers in Jackson built new facilities this is why commercial went up all over the place.. but downtown did not have a lot of vacant land and still did not have the draw at all to the higher end buying public..

In some case, a quarter mile in one direction might put you in a completely different neighborhood, so you might need to draw a box around a particular neighborhood in one direction, rather than a circle with a 1/2 or 3/4 mile radius. 

This company has not been easy to work with; the draw requests are always slow to be responded to, not to mention the inspection process has been a nightmare.