How to Read This Report

The structure

This report is built like software documentation because the subject is a system — a set of interacting cash flows. The left sidebar is your table of contents:

Start Here — the punchlines and the orientation you’re reading now.
The Core Concept — the single financial idea (negative leverage) that governs the whole question.
The Three Markets — Duck, Corolla, Nags Head: how they differ and why it’s a money decision.
Transaction Models (Live) — real listings run through a full pro-forma. The heart of the report.
The Cost Stack — where ~half the rent goes before the mortgage.
Financing & Tax — how the loan and the tax code change the answer.
Risk & Strategy — what can go wrong, and the actual playbook.

Confidence tags

Every meaningful number carries one:

HIGH — corroborated across ≥2 independent sources.
MED — sourced but from aggregators/agent data, or a single source.
LOW — directional; treat with caution.
CONFLICT — sources disagree; both readings shown.

On the deal models, VERIFIED means the price/spec was seen live; RANGE means market-typical.

The one model to hold onto

If you remember a single thing: compare the property’s unlevered yield to your mortgage constant. Everything else is detail hanging off that comparison. The next page makes it concrete.