I wanted to have a strategy if/when I plan to buy the next house.

I had this problem before with my house.

We are booking out now and should be full up for the most part by April.Our lake house isn't in as well traveled area as yours so it is hard to compare, but maybe ask AirBNB how their search impressions are calculated.

A good option to get your foot in the door might be to house hack and rent by the room.

I also have a 240 sq ft house that I do an LTR out of.

If we rent our house out, the tenant would likely cover our entire mortgage, but our HOA costs are high (they were raised a lot recently).

Paying more only on one can give a chance to get the other house potentially refinance if the rates go down.

I've heard of some hosts adding to the house rules that the guests must complete those steps after booking on the OTA platform, otherwise the booking will be canceled.At my company, we don't do background and credit checks for OTA bookings, but we do ask why they're renting a MTR and who will be staying with them.

I bought a single family house last year using a VA loan and at the time I had 12 units.

You don't need a lot of cash to start house hacking for example, although you do have to be mindful of repairs, etc.