It doesn't just teach you how to buy and rent a vacation rental.

Got to weigh your options and determine how valuable your time and effort is to you.Nick Belsky

Thank you for taking the time to read this and very excited to make some valuable connections.

MBA can teach you accounting, finance & marketing.

I think its fair to say you'll make considerably more money on the short-term/AirBnB route, but also face significantly more work/time.Instead of simply screening tenants and the occasional repair you're looking at calls at all hours of the night, lots of wear and tear in the turnover etc - but the number can still work out in favor if you have the time and/or interest.It's been great for us and we found that by outfitting the place high end and sticking out as one of the nicest places in town you'll also get good quality guests that you don't have to worry too much about (we've had only a couple bad guests in several years).Don't forget to calculate the furnishing costs into the AirBnB route, but you can also convert back to long term rentals if you don't enjoy it and the furnishings may simply make the long-term more valuable as well.

Clearly #1 above is more valuable to me than #2, so I give it more weighting. 3.

Teach them the basics of showing units and then automate everything else (rent collection, docusign for leasing, etc). 

-That I may be able to make the career change without an MBA by teaching myself the necessary skills and by networking.

To add to the valuable advice provided by Kyle regarding Fair Housing issues some states also limit the amount of security deposit you can collect regardless of occupants or other factors.

So in your scenario, because its near downtown, its valuable.