One of the hurdles is the doors and windows...they will have to be identical to the original, which means made of wood and sometimes even single-paned.

For me, there were many lessons learned that helped me along the way which also helped me build systems to help them run smoother.

For the potential franchisee owners who are considering this as a business, I would run the other way!

But it’s been really great having them in this environment/ touching on the investment life education (ex; we live upstairs ..’shh no jumping and running..it’s late and we have tenants’) / starting our family here. 

Quote from @Zachary Deal: may be worth just handling all bookings through Airbnb or VRBO to add some level of protectionIf booking outside these platforms, we use KeyCheck to run background and credit checks on tenants, but we may switch to Rent Redi as they collect the tenant's photo ID for you as well. 

@Albert Johnson yes just do that, not only is it the correct liability stance but it's the correct way to run your 'business'.

I would rather have fewer properties that are paid for vs. many doors and being over leveraged.

If they want any money upfront, run the other direction. 

Fairly successful on my personal portfolio and manage just under 1k doors for others here in town,  lots of options and ways to do it. 

In the short term the investment was not profitable, in the long run, appreciation and market changes gave me some moderate profit.