What we do to make up for it is create a private bedroom listing to hit a different target audience to fill in some of those vacancies.

(I guess that's what the $3K to $4K deposit is for)(3) Is it difficult to find private money @ 12% over 5 years to fund these deals?

We don't practice discussing the details of private transactions publicly, thats just not good business.

What about the thousands of family members and private money lenders who are under the table?

Here is a list of potential options:Trello/Asana/Zoho Projects/Freedcamp/Basecamp/Workfront/Monday.com/Jira/etc,etc,etc,etc,etc - General project management software that includes tasks, Gantt scheduling, calendars, project forums, document storage & team collaboration toolsTeamGantt/Gantter/MS Project - Gantt Scheduling Softwares for creating Gantt Charts & Timelines, & managing tasks.Podio - Customizable system that allows you to build workflows, track tasks, track leads, etc.Smartsheet/AirTable - Provide spreadsheet style platforms with additional functionalities for uploading documents/images, assigning tasks, calendar, images, etcOffice 365/Google Sheets Spreadsheets - Believe it or not, a lot of successful flippers still manage their entire business in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. 

In the long run, Roth-style retirement accounts beat the Traditional retirement accounts.

What I’m discovering is that just because a town allows STRs doesn’t mean the local laws make them operationally feasible unless you meet very specific criteria.For example, in Highland Lakes, access to the lake requires private membership, and it’s unclear if STR guests can use it.

Private money & subto How did you add value to the deal?

Does each room have its own private bathroom or is there a shared hall bathroom? 

Bird dogging is a way to make money but its not gonna get you rich.WE have had many do some birddogging for us on the private lending side to find qualified people that need a loan and its interesting how many last a few weeks - I sense the same holds true for real estate bird dogs.