It is to your advantage that STRs have existed since before 1998 and were not explicitly cited in the CC&Rs.  

I think taking advantage of low downpayments and using very high leverage is incredibly powerful it makes your return so much bigger.

LTR:The STR loophole can be a huge tax advantage because you can use depreciation and other expenses to offset your regular income, which is a big win.

Your liquidity is a nice start, but also not a direct advantage while exploring the BRRRR strategy. 

Regardless of how normal citizens view a person who is open carrying, my concern is more so how the threat/criminal can use it as an advantage.

Your advantage is your connection to the right investors with cash to purchase the property.

I'm VA so I can take advantage of 0 down.

Instead, they are taking advantage of you and you are letting it happen.I recommend you learn what a good PM looks like, then start your search for a new one immediately.

What are the significant advantages and disadvantages if you would compare buying from an owner (if you can find one or one finds you) and buying at an auction?

The individual can verify that it is a licensed health care provider, but cannot easily determine if that health care provider is one of the many that advertise on the internet for ESA authorizations for a fee.I personally think the biggest advantage of using petscreening.com as well as enforce AB468 is it discourages bogus ESA applicants from applying.