I have been using business automation for many years now.

I don't use co-hosts because there are tools that can easily automate the day-to-day operations of an STR. 

The neighbor who I paid to handle garbage and sweeps my sidewalk called me one morning to tell me I got a ticket for litter on the sidewalk.

I self manage my STR from out of state and the most helpful things have been Guesty (connects my Airbnb & VRBO calendars and sends out my automated messages to guests & cleaners for reminders) PriceLabs for automated pricing, and I am just testing out furnished finder now this winter.

Originally posted by @Paul Weisbaum:This may be controversial - but I let them pay me every week instead of once a month and require automated debits from their account.

Hi All,I am curious what you all are using to automate your bookkeeping?

The key to self management is to have a team of key people to call that you can rely on, especially a plumber/heating guy, and to automate rent collection and anything else you can.

No limits, no theft, automated transfers even on holidays. 

Other than that, you should be able to automate the rest of it or leverage local resources for the most part. 

Once I get the wholesaling part of the business off the ground and automated, then I will venture to step 2 and then step 3.