My major trades are great, but in my renovation business, it's so common to have "a guy" not show up...so I wanted to make sure that I could fill in from every angle where needed, from installing cabinets to landscaping.

Wages are increasing too which is a great sign for landlords as the metro wide rental vacancy remains low.  

They take pictures at angles designed to hide flaws.

Can someone recommend if they know a site that allows nationwide property look up based on a criteria? I am new to this, bought one unit almost 10 years back and made really good money on it but now want to jump on an...

It may be a tax angle for them, or they have something to hide.

You have a pretty wide-reaching set of issues.

I know 3 that write them locally in DFW...and only one of those will do it state wide.

If you are thinking of making an older home a STR it will need a complete cosmetic rehab.Also, you will have a wide variety of people staying, and inevitably, some will be Darwin Award contenders.

(Bought a vehicle last year, the price I paid was more than the assessed value for sales tax purposes, that is part of what is driving my confusion here, not sure if the same situation applies to real estate).Obviously I don't need an exact answer, but its difficult to evaluate cash-flow opportunity with such a wide discrepancy in figures. 

I don't know what will make travel easier but know a lot of companies are working on it.But do think "Demand" is going to be more complex than just a number nation or state wide.