Such short term rental  will follow these criteria(see numbered list below), in order to take advantage of (1) qualifying to fill out schedule E, thus avoiding the Self-Employment tax should there be any profits. and (2) being able to offset your W2 income should there be a paper loss. 

It's very intuitive and has key functions that I really needed like the ability to quickly categorize transactions into categories that sync with your Schedule E for tax time, the ability to set up accounts for each property and sub accounts for specific things related to each property.

I'm continuing to search for a vacation home that we can use list as a STR when we're not using it.

I will try to list a few things to think about before you make a decision. 

I had one on file from a fake seller who had recently tried to get me to list a property that didn’t belong to them, and we found 16 different ways it was fake.

AND The landlord notified the tenant in writing that the tenancy is not subject to the “just cause” and rent increase limitations as specifically described in Civil Code Sections 1946.2(e)(8)(B)(i) and 1947.12(d)(5)(B)(i).

. - Length of agreement: I usually look to list a property for at least 1.5X the Average Days on Market for that area/property type.

And there's no circumstance in which they can go on Schedule E. i.e., you just take the hit.That makes sense/seems fair.

I've crossed out all the new projects on the list as well as written 'CSLB $500 labor/materials limit' next to each project he wanted to start that's over that amount- despite our multiple conversations regarding just that.An interesting rather recent article:http://www.cslb.ca.gov/Media_Room/Press_Releases/2..."

The "15" is the Price-to-earnings ratio, or "P/E".But that doesn't mean the stock price doesn't move.