Many of the tenants I’ve had are ones moving to the area from out of state.

You should, get quotes from local Roofers there, that have longevity in the area but that you do NOT hear on the radio, see on TV, etc!

First Republic - CAFremont Bank- up to 60% CAFrost Bank - TXFulton Bank, PA, NJGFA Federal Credit Union 10 yr draw, 10 yr repay, MA, NHGolden1 California HELOCGranite State CU, NH 90-100%Great Lakes Credit Union, Chicago area ILGTE Financial, Tampa, Sarasota area FL w 2 yrs tax history on propertyHanscom FCU, TXHarborOne, RI
HSBC 70%, for premier clients only.

In the meantime I read every book I could find on commercial real estate; attended every commercial real estate meeting in the Houston area, and spoke to numerous commercial brokers.

I am in the similar boat and planning to expand to other areas to scale up. 

write the owner see whats up.90% its not the owner being a slumlord its the area and the type of tenants that will live there are slumlord type tenants.. pretty hard to turn those around .

Does anyone have any experience owning/operating a short term rental in Blue Ridge (or surrounding areas)?

There are a lot of options out there and my only suggestion is that you take several for a test-drive to see which one works best for your operation.

There are a few communities that do allow rentals, but be very careful with these. 

My biggest piece of advice would be to take it slow and learn to evaluate different options and strategies and hear different opinions (you don't have to take them all and use them, see what works for you... there are a lot of them on these forums LOL) as soon as you can.