I had numerous electricians tell me the old knob and tube was ok, but I will be replacing all of it in the future for piece of mind.

If AirBNB were a franchise instead of a platform, they would be in violation of numerous franchising laws and regulations.

This should tell you numerically what makes more sense investment wise........With that said, in most cases, all that really matters is that you live in the house that makes you happy and that you can sleep well at night.

They were gambling that the yield curve wouldn’t invert like it did, but then it did, and hard. 

That being said, this can be very successful in the sense of having numerous tenants interested in housing in a college town such as Gainesville, but I'd be cautious with who the tenants are.

Truth is it takes a LOT of “grunt” work, or the capital to pay someone to do the repetitive work of cold calling, answering inquiries, drawing up numerous offers that will never be accepted, sending out property sale notices to buyers that will never complete the purchase and will attempt to go around you directly to the seller, addressing post cards, placing “bandit” signs, etc.  

thats the bay area.. .. will your prop do that who knows.. but its only a short term gamble so you gamble 3 to 10k over a few years and see what happens.

He states he can't rent or sell property due to smoke smell..I doubt that.the house was built in 1951.there are numerous cracks in ceiling from house settling, wood floors need redone plus two round stains from kerosene heaters from last tenants,the bathroom is original pink tiles, kitchen cupboards falling off walls,leaking roof,leaked prior in spare room was patched and never painted, the whole house is a fixed upper.I think he's trying to pass the buck onto me so he can repair to sell, not due to smoke smell.Can I take him to court for my refund or will be win.I live in virginia

This platform has numerous resources to offer so I definitely recommend taking advantage of it all. 

These contracts have been vetted over by numerous attorneys and have protections in them to make sure you can purchase the property above board and be complicit with the law.