The day that we visit the property, after the showing, I ask them about the financing, or POF.

I did the analysis on Cleveland 5 years ago that I'm doing on Troy now,  Once I actually visited Cleaveland it seemed like it had already came back and I was too late. 

Talk to the neighbours and tell them they are all her family members visiting.

The most accurate way to do it will be you, create an excel of a variety of different properties, from 2beds to 4beds etc etc, list pricing and location of these places, and any unique amenities then throughout the year go through their calendars and mark down their booked days.You may be correct on the HIGH amount of unbooked days, if the place you're looking at is primarily just a summer retreat then it may be too early to tell what their occupancy is.

As a property manager, when I am asked these questions by a potential owner here is what I say:A good property manager will ensure the property condition is maintained (actually make visits or have visits performed).  

Numbers wise, the entire population of Harrisburg visits Honolulu every 3 days.

She charges me $15 per visit - and she visits about once or twice per month. 

I regularly visit OKC and Tulsa as I have family there and have my eyes set on that market as well.

Have a few properties I'm going to visit next week and will hopefully put in a few offers.

He's open to it, but warned that it almost guarantees an audit and requires added 'precision' on our part -- which could mean IRS headaches if we ACCIDENTALLY/UNKNOWINGLY did something out of bounds or didn't document something correctly, etc.My conclusion is if you're doing 'simple' SFHs, and/or you're not an LLC, or anything 'special' a CPA who specializes in Taxes and REI work would do the job, an EA who's good with REI would likely be better; but, if you want to do anything unique/creative, or outside the box or also wish to then have the business succession planning or have kids and want to have the business continue should anything happen to you...and all that added planning, maybe a tax lawyer would be best, or a Tax Layer who works closely with the CPA/EA...make sense?