They each serve their own purpose, but absolutely will require you to put in research up front and spend the time (a couple hours tops) to figure out how to leverage them to save time. 

As for the LLC, i would recommend an LLC, specifically for the protections. i would even go as far as to recommend a special-purpose entity (one for each property independently).

For bookkeeping purposes, you should have a separate line item on your P&L to account for the Section 179D deduction under “other expenses”.

That will come up in discovery adding a person for qualifying purposes.

Become a powerhouse marketer and the rest will fall in place.Doing things halfassed (not saying you do it on purpose... what ever the reason  lack of knowledge, misslead by a guru...) the end result will remain the same.

STR certainly lucrative but there would be lots of factors to consider when deciding to buy something solely for the purposes of STR.

All marketing strategies work, especially for the purposes of getting your first few deals. 

The DSPC will use this contract summary information for audit purposes to help verify actual guest stays occurring within the annual contract limit.

How about a pull down ironing board that comes down in front of the toilet. 

Not sure how well you know your builder but based on my experience with ours this is what I would do differently next time, especially if for investment purposes:1.