I am personally staying away from STR‘s and MTR‘s because of its inconsistency.

No "headaches" except for risk of near total loss of principle unless I put more money in...I'll take the risk of a project that I need to complete personally in exchange for a near-perfect risk/reward profile and complete understanding of the investment.

How they use the $ does not impact how you are taxed was what I was referring too

Personally, I'd like to see the return of more streamlined processes with the lenders (at least more so than they are now!). 

I would personally feel better if they were at 4" though, particularly if there will be small kids as renters.

I would then try to cross-reference the properties you find on these websites against Airbnb and VRBO to gain a little-bit more knowledge as to what your "competition" might be.I hope this helps and good luck on your Airbnb journey! 

Obviously you can't have complete control on these but you can get a gauge when first speaking with the person.

Keeping your building expenses separate from your personal finances can make it a lot easier. 

In general I believe the area is in a great location and the racetrack that you might be referring to is the Bristol Speedway.  

It sounds like you are placing into service as a rental a house that was previously a personal residence.Your basis is purchase price + improvements made to the house from purchase to the time it was converted into a rental.