She and her husband spent $55,000 over the past year to make their Kansas City-area home more appealing for short-term renters. The four-bedroom home features the kind of touches — cozy TV-watching areas, an outdoor fire pit, and newly purchased furniture — that should be catnip for visitors. Since the listing went live in December, however, the home has drawn only a handful of bookings. The first stay didn't offer much encouragement: the guests trashed the place, causing about $1,200 in damage.