Joshua,I am here in Florida as well and have been in the REI world for over 18+ years. 

This area is an amazing place to live, and for that reason highly competitive in terms of real estate investing.

Quote from @Sharad Bagri: We are a few friends from California looking to invest in multi family real estate in Ohio.

And just in case the family stays longer than insurance will pay for.

I bought my first house in Abilene with a VA loan.

Guests treat those kinds of bookings differently than a STR vacation home.They are used to being able to cancel the booking 24 hours in advance and all sorts of other things that STRs like ours can't really accommodate.

For other depreciation: When placing a property in service late in the year, depreciation is prorated based on the mid-month convention for residential rentals.

@Ron Dancy in some ways yes, in other ways, no.

I've flipped 3 houses & have a rental property.

Hopefully that is the same with your lease in your state.