My wife n I travel extensively so one of the other reason to leave SF.

REI is a passion of mine, and its the key to my dream life, not riches and material things, but a life that I can spend a majority of my time with my future family, and my wife, and traveling.

Steve doesn't do smokers anymore, even if they promise to 'only smoke outside.'

I’m intending to down the road buy a lake house 2-3hrs from where I live now and I want to manage it remotely so I can keep visitors checked in without having to travel.

I travel for clients as needed and work in my office in Michigan. 

You can also get tax write offs if you travel to the property or spend money on the LLC for business.

I would assume that using the points for personal travel would be a conflict of interest (and illegal?)

I travelled down there last year and he was gracious enough to meet up and explain what he was doing down there.

It is possible to retrofit an apartment with a smart lock, video doorbell, smart thermostat, voice and app controlled lights, smart interconnected smoke alarms etc.,  How much rent premium will your tenants pay?

Hey Brian, something I would look into is specifically renting out to traveling nurses and other medical professionals.