By short term I mean AirBnB, VRBO, etc. My goal is to buy a property with one unit on it (A-frame, small cottage, etc) and then put multiple units to increase the value. Rinse and repeat until retirement goals reached.

I hope it's not the same in all counties but in the Shenandoah NP area zoning is pretty restrictive.

- You can only put one dwelling on property zoned residential. No accessory dwelling units allowed.

- You cannot use RVs, trailers etc for short term rentals on residential property.

- You can buy a tiny house and put it on a residential property but it will be classified as a dwelling unit and again only one allowed per lot.

- You can establish a campground if you want to do multiple units BUT only on property zoned agricultural or woodland conservation. I'm getting the impression that once you establish a campground all bets are off - tents, domes, RVs, whatever you want. Zoning doesn't consider a campground to fall under the short term rental rules. But that brings us to...

- Most if not all land available for campground designation is raw land so it will require a major development effort unless I can find a lot with proper zoning and a small house already built. So far most of the developed lots in this category I've found have large vacation homes on them.

- Local zoning authorities are not exactly helpful.

Between the zoning constraints and development issues I haven't been able to find a single property so far.