You are paying ordinary income rates on the interest -no way around that.

-Should I put the property under an LLC (pay higher mortgage rate, but better protection against lawsuits) or keep under my name?

Thank you Henry, so does this mean they are 21% below street rates with 95% occupancy?

Have more than 1 exit strategy- IE: if you buy a house intending to flip and the market goes bad, have something that would be suitable as a rental as well.  5.Know the area in and out that you intend to buy in - tax rates, HOA's, flood zones (if any).

My question is: we have an unused HELOC for 150k but the rate is 10% (harsh).

There is no correlation between number of nights and "quality of guest".There is also a misnomer that "if my rates are too cheap, I'll attract trashy guests." 

Also, if you list the property at the higher rate because you’re including SOME of the electric utilities (because you won’t be able to eliminate 100% of the bill.) you’re going to lose potential tenants that are filtering by rent and/or see similar properties for less, causing longer vacancies.

Hi Jared,For the best rates and terms, you'd want a FICO score of 720 and above.

The tax benefits are also great.Where interest earned from lending personal money is subject to ordinary income tax rates, interest earned in a traditional SD 401k retirement plan is tax-deferred or tax-free through a Roth SD 401k plan.

- upping your max # of guests somehow- "no cleaning fee" & upping the nightly rate accordingly CAN be a big driver of bookings in some markets- having your listing/pics done professionally (by someone who specializes in STRs)- a great outdoor area- if you wanna spend $, i'm seeing lots of people adding pickle ball courts & more stuff to do outside like that - having a car there that they can rent on turo for cheaper than the rental cars from the airport