Quote from @William Thompson: The First Thing STR Hosts Should Review in the First Week of the Year (It’s Not Bookings)The first work week of the year always brings the same instinct for STR hosts:check calendars, tweak pricing, and see how January bookings look.That’s fine — but the hosts who actually improve year over year start somewhere else.They review how the business ran, not just how it booked.Before looking at occupancy, I always suggest taking one hour to answer a few simple questions:Which stays caused the most stress last year?

Deals showing 7%+ in B areas are either:priced very aggressively (often off-market),lightly underwritten, orrelying on short-term assumptions that don’t hold long-term.In most cases, 7%+ CoC in today’s environment is coming from one of three places:C-class risk (which you’re already avoiding),Value-add execution (rent bumps, expense cleanup, operational inefficiencies),Creative structure (seller carry, rate buy-downs, lower leverage, or higher equity checks).Personally, we’ve adjusted expectations on initial cash-on-cash in B areas and focus more on:durability of the asset,rent growth over 24–36 months,and total return rather than Year-1 cash flow optics.If you’re underwriting clean, long-term B-class assets at 5–6% CoC and they still make sense after stress-testing, that’s not a miss — that’s the current market.

If you can raise money without stressing out completely, than go for it.

Hi Amanda,I understand how frustrating and stressful this situation can be.

Stress level: Olympic.The 2.5-Year GrindWhat should’ve been a quick stabilization turned into a 30-month, “is this thing ever going to end?”

Tenant behavior around security deposits is often completely irrational (I wish there was research performed on this subject), and the time and friction involved in fighting over relatively small amounts is rarely worth it.In your case, if the dispute is over $1,000, you really need to ask yourself whether that amount justifies the time, stress, and potential escalation involved. 

So in general, I'm not too stressed out about a few hundred dollars in monthly cashflow but I do want a long term stable tenant in the property. 

Only keep your current home as a rental if the rent clearly covers the full payment plus extra for empty months and repairs; if it’s close, it will stress you out.

In real estate finance and note investing, stress-testing generally refers to evaluating how a potential investment would perform under adverse conditions rather than only under optimistic assumptions.

If the numbers still work after repairs, vacancy, and management, it’s a simple, low-stress way to start while keeping your W2