If you know that a 2BR single family rental averages $1000/month in your market and someone tells you they have a good deal for you on one for $175k how much time are you going to spend analyzing it?

Ask your tenant to use smell minimising products.

Quote from @Brandon Croucier: No products 5% down on 2nd homes or investment, it not 08' just yet.

We do engineer hardwood and no Lux viynl like our competitors So all these things probably cost me 25k pre house but we have been selling them for 100k higher than Lennar for same sq ft and have created the highest priced development in town. we are approaching 400 a foot for finished product which was unheard of in Canby Oregon.U can see the homes and the finishs if you go to  Ivyridgeestatescanby  dot com. 

its funny how this changes with time and the market on BP  if you asked this question 5 to 7 years ago you get drowned out with the cash flow is the ONLY thing and appreciation is for gamblers my self I have always been about making appreciation games in RE.. by either value add building a new product or buying foreclosure and flipping or lending money and getting instant 12% plus returns . 

So at a glance (quick), this seems to be interior products and finishes?

The best way to develop a solid SOW is this - you start off with what you are visualizing in your head, send drawings, pictures and products that you like.

I’m not from the US and currently live in Europe most of the time.I’ve found some apartments that could work well for my needs—I plan to rent them out on Airbnb and reserve a few nights for myself when I travel there for work.My question is: apart from the purchase price (I’ve seen listings on Zillow averaging around $150k in areas like downtown Dallas, Old East, and Plano), what other costs should I expect—both during the acquisition and in monthly payments?

Real estate investing is forgiving; the average person can still make money even with some big mistakes.

If you know what an "average" deal looks like then pull the trigger on one that looks above average.