@John B.

If your property is in the middle of nowhere with nothing going for it, one idea is to split it into smaller pieces and market it to hunters/preppers and offer seller carry.

@John LeavelleThanks for your response.

@John Underwood that is the first I heard that.

If you are looking into fix & flipping houses I would recommend 2 books by John Scott "Flipping Houses" & "Estimating the Cost of Rehab" both very good books if you are looking into rehabbing and renting then you may want to add 2 books by Brandon Turner called "Managing Rental Properties" & "Rental Property Investing".

Quote from @John Underwood: I would be cautious at these levels and look for deals or at least have some buffer in what you think you can pull in based on occupancy and current nightly rates.A unique property may give you a leg up over competition. 

@John @John Warren That makes sense thank you for the advice.

I see so many set up as John Smith LLC, mailing to their home address. 

The only way to accurately verify performance of a property is by reviewing the owner's tax return Schedule E, as mentioned by John.  

As @John Warren mentioned, the biggest culprit is usually old toilets that constantly flush/run.