Welcome to the world of managing rentals, if you can sit and chat with some Property Managers I am sure you will understand the preparations you need to take.

This is a great place to learn and to connect with people so take advantage of all the great resources.

We all are human and want to give people the benefit of the doubt but the longer you wait = the longer till you get paid.

As a general rule I would say multi for all the reasons people listed.

Is this a Washington thing or am I not understanding correctly?

I would just say that recently in my experience diversifying out from STR into motels/boutique hospitality has been high risk and set some people off path - it can be a very lucrative and good move - however, if you are having a lot of Success with traditional STR - it seems like a lot of people are looking back and saying they wished they stuck with that and expanded with what was already working!

Look at some comps in the area, and you will get a good understanding of utility costs.In some markets, landlords bill back utilities to the resident.

For some people this is OK since they will get use, future appreciation and a likely refinance in a few years. 

Some benefits are restricted, particularly the rights to remodel or resell, per my understanding.

Samantha Reeves,Thank you again for your replyHopefully if I run into this " Problem " with the property requiring $3,000 in repairs completed in order for it t pas the VA Loan standards , my Lender will o an Escrow  Holdback .But either way ( if I understand it correctly ) ...... whether I use an Escrow Hold Back or not, I will have to ay for the repairs out of my Own pocket, UNLESS the seller will pay for them ?