I would mention the general gist I get from my NYC investors versus my experience upstate is that it's difficult to be a small solo passive investor if you're not taking semi-regular trips to your portfolio.

They have statistics on the seasonality of each area and can can give you real data versus a bunch of opinions and hypotheticals.

Ultimately you will be creating another job for yourself versus a passive source of income.

Can anyone with experience doing it yourself versus outsourcing comment on these and other tradeoffs?

As you mention, they make a lot of sense for families versus getting two rooms at a hotel.  77% of people have pets in the US. 

Miles, why do you need a Hard money or private lender versus a Bank? 

Wanted to check out at noon versus 10:00.  

To be more exact, consider the following.A 3 bed/2 bath house, 1900 square feet versus 1600 square feet.

There appears to be some differences between how lenders treat mobile homes versus the IRS.From a lending and Realtor perspective, I'm familiar with the personal/real property designation (and how to convert the mobile to real property), but not from the IRS tax perspective.  

Would my current (primary) house be eligible for 1031 exchange AFTER a year of renting it - if it's a Short Term Rental (VRBO, AirBnB or alike) versus a traditional monthly type lease agreement?