Does anyone have any, 1) recommendations for towns that would fit the above description, 2) recommendations for great real estate agents/property managers who are knowledgeable when it comes to current Airbnb laws and restrictions?

Description: Capitalization rate shows the potential rate of return on the real estate investment.

@Michael HicksThanks a lot for the detailed description and estimate of costs.

I was looking at the job descriptions for property manager and it was a full page long. 

Seems for your description maybe not

Does anyone know where to find statistics on, say average appreciation rates in a given geographical area over a specified period of time?

Add a very favorable geographic location, adjacent to three high-density metro areas: Baltimore, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia.

If you havea) an attractive listing advertisement (many high-quality wide-lens photos, video tour, detailed description)b) advertised to the major listing platforms like Zillow/Trulia/Hotpads, Apartments.com, and Zumper/Facebookc) a professional manager demanding reasonable qualifications and lease terms and responding in a timely fashion to inquiries and setting up showingsand the place is still not leased, then your price is too high.

One thing I have added to my leases over the years that may not be common: I specify particulars of pet care if there is a pet (aside from name and description of pet).

I've seen a description of a "Checkbook IRA" structure where a single IRA or a group of IRAs own a special purpose LLC that invests in whatever.