I admit it's not sexy and it's slow, but it works.If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy a personal home with 3-5% down then repeat every 12-18 months.

To be conservative, I'm rounding down occupancy to 70%, which for 3 cleanings per month, would mean rental income would be ($220*365*.7*.6)-($30*3*12) for a monthly income of $2,720.

I would suggest looking up their monthly calendar and going to one of their monthly events in conjunction with a visit to the area.

However, despite several months of searching, I'm struggling to find properties that break even, especially with current interest rates.

I don't mind working with clients with STR but it is hard when it takes 1-2 months to get a response on what certain expenses belong to.

On Dec 12th, I was awarded back rent by JP court but tenant filed appeal (month deposit is waived as bond if you claim not to have any $$$). 

As for the numbers, we’re seeing $150,000 single-family homes in Decatur yield $1,250+ in monthly gross rents, so there are definitely some strong candidates for cash flow in the area.

I highly recommend attending a few monthly networking events/meetups!

What is my ideal monthly payment?

I make sure to go through any expenses for both LLC's once a month and categorize (via Mint.com, so I know which expenses are for which property) and it makes it much simpler at tax time!