I needed a place to live and could not justify paying rent when opportunities were available.

The listing says that some rehab is needed but optional (like adding a garage, or putting central air), and has been inspected 2 years ago.Let me know what you guys think, as I'm pretty excited to drop my money for this opportunity.

Yeah, this is definitely not my main focus but I definitely see the opportunity literally in front of me everyday. 

We initially set up our VRBO accounts to Instant Book which didn't  give us the opportunity to properly vet renters.

Thanks for the quick reply, Julie - very encouraging to hear that it's an avenue worth pursuing.I used to be concerned about my personal furniture (which is not inexpensive) but after I added up the opportunity costs of NOT utilizing my primary residence as a STR in my absence, all my concerns about it vanished.

They willshare funny stories with pieces you can learn from.Cons: ·        Little networking opportunity.

My mind is open to all opportunities at this point.

What I expect is to further my business, be introduced to interesting people/opportunities (doesn't matter if I don't make any money) and to enhance my perceptive.

Along came an opportunity through a friend to purchase a house that easily values @ $180,000 for $115,000(purchase price). 

Then when a shady Fannie Mae realtor slipped up, I leveraged her misstep for the opportunity to conduct business on a "fair" playing field with Fannie Mae.