Prior to these sites emerging to dominance, I wouldn't have gotten near a VR with a ten foot poll; with this new platform, though, it can be incredibly rewarding if executed correctly and something I help interested clients to pursue.As Justin said, how selective you are in the neighborhoods you choose to invest in (AKA: being very thorough with your due diligence and making sure to avoid the neighborhoods where people are likely to take issue with short term rentals operating in their back yard and attempting to make formal changes to legislation) will go a long way in dictating the success you have.For instance, Del Mar just recently put a temporary stop to any new short term rentals operating in the  Zip Code and are currently 'sorting out' the 'unclear verbiage' regarding short term rentals in their municipal code.

And why I should pass on SFHs with strong Total Return and ROI just because the COC, for instance, could be low or even slightly negative?

Where you mention trustee and auction, I am assuming this property was a foreclosure...that is one of the instances where I do get title insurance.

Could I include that in a 10 day with cure notice, for instance?

For instance, I can look back and say "my utilities expense account increase 25% from the previous year" and then investigate as to why.

Because here some people might be very mistaken in, for instance, believing that their entire mortgage payment is a "cost".

@Scott Scharl  loans for building infrastructure are very very difficult to get expect for the most experienced and credit worthy borrowers.. in almost all instances

For instance, burglary is burglary, regardless of who you are or where you rob.

As Dave pointed out, and again a large part of my response could change if your definition of "several years ago" is 5 or more for instance, you do want to improve solely with the intent to sell but if you are going to make some improvements on a property you exchanged 5 years ago or more (just an arbitrary number but a number of years to which I personally believe is enough) and caught a luck rezoning break that allows you to significantly increase the value prior to selling it, then making improvements prior to cashing out I think would be ok. 

For instance: What s the age of the property?