I would even go so far as to say that if you happen upon an absolutely smokin' deal that would be perfect in every way as a rental except for the fact that it has a pool, I would factor in the expense to fill in the pool and only then if the numbers still made sense would I proceed with it as a rental, either that or keep the pool and flip it.

They're a perfect offset to the gray.

Don't wait till it's perfect.

We are planning to purchase a vacation rental within the next year which we will also use ourselves from time to time to get away.

The inquires I get from AirBnB are more of the millennial crowd"The user interface of the 2 platforms, vrbo being old tech (middle aged people won't even notice and don't care, millennials can't bear it :) ) and airbnb on the contrary new with a modern behavior or even language is a perfect match for them. :)

Obviously, if you trip across a deal, then get it done, but in my perfect world, FADD it, Finance, Appraise, Deal, Do.

So I was hoping that there was a section on Bigger Pockets where I could post what I'm looking for, and some lucky landlord on this site would say "yeah kevin, i've got an apartment in Westwood that would be perfect - give me a call". 

I currently own the home that i am living in and i feel that i am in the perfect situation to begin investing due to the fact that i have tons of equity on the house and currently have an open HELOC on the house.

In a perfect world owner financing would be welcome.

If you buy and then sell under 1031 a few months later, you might get away with it once if you can show you intended to hold it longer (life does happen), but if you do that a couple times the IRS will catch on fast.