Of course the risks are there that the owner will not renew the lease and start doing it themselves if you are successful.

IF that is the case full stop - yes you are paying for something called insurance but if you have a claim the company has the right to pretty much deny coverage for having the wrong type of policy.Landlord policies are higher cost but for a reason - there is a different and increased level of risk when the house is not owner occupied.Talk with your agent and get all the details sorted out. 

Lack of down payment, lack of entrepreneurial personality, low tolerance for risk, looking for the magic key that fits their desires, just want to learn, sold "Castles in the sky" with a gibberish of disconnected statements that while true in a plethora of instances do not add up to truth in any one instance, fear of failure meaning not able to take a financial loss without going into poverty, never told up front how much money they will need to spend to buy the investment in addition to paying for the class.

We don't have any significant storms, floods, earthquake, wild fire or hurricane risks, which keeps insurance cost affordable.

Agreed with the other comments about the higher risk with HELOC in this particular market.

This is what I am encountering, in the current Mortgage Industry.If you think you will go FHA, Conventional, FHA 203k, etc. and then Quit Claim the property, to a Corporate Entity, or a Land Trust you run the risk of the lender discovering a Title Transfer occurred and activating the "Acceleration Clause" or "Due on Sale Clause" that requires the loan to be paid in full, within 'x' number of days.

Other types of insurance required can be “worker’s compensation insurance” and “builder’s risk insurance.

I'm just trying to get a better sense of what my real risks are? 

Because it causes one to think about the way they invest, the reasoning behind their investments, and the success and failures their investment tactics and strategies have produced.I make a decision to pursue a real estate investment (or really any investment) based on an evaluation of risk vs return.  

Additionally, there’s always a risk that any pet-related damages could be hidden under furniture or otherwise concealed, potentially leaving us to cover the costs if the security deposit is fully depleted by other expenses (e.g., damages or unpaid rent).