While a deposit is almost always preferable, you should make a common sense business decision based on the circumstances and condition of the property, in my opinion.

I’m currently in the process of building a house for the purpose of STR in the Shell Knob area.

In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Never understood the catch to places like new western, you can literally only wholesale and make a small cut from every deal.

IE- does it make reclaiming the property and evicting the end user more difficult?  

I want to make a smart decision and take advantage of the market conditions.

This makes it seem like you are obligated to keep this tenant if they want to stay. 

I think the property would have to be incredibly unique to make this argument.  

It's really best to know how the process works and what you need to do to prepare.

I would also keep the current property you have an maybe look into how you can utilize your equity (HELOC-make sure you connect with a lender about what this will look like for you) to buy additional properties.