This increases the perceived risk and perhaps the legal fees to put in place and then defend if necessary. 

In areas like South DFW, challenges like limited inventory and high prices require creative approaches such as off-market deals, foreclosures, or properties needing updates.

I look at every single item in the pro forma and imagine that it is complete BS, and see if I can challenge it.

@Shawn NofzigerHi Shawn,I came across your post and while I am a long way from Lansing, I work with a ton of new and aspiring investors and the challenges they have getting from idea to action. 

Congratulations on getting your foot in the STR door, starting out is always a challenge to new host but dont worry you will get there. 

Challenge is that I have an exclusive agreement with the seller because they wanted to list it, but changed their mind.  

That's the challenge with doing a 1031 with multiple properties.

I'm not sure if you're in the flatter northern half of the State or the hilly south half and/or if a berm could be built in the backyard or who, if anyone, has a yard that joins yours.The challenge of course, if finding the right person.

If you SLOWLY add variables after you have solved the same problem a couple times it gets easier with less risk.I sadly had a very hard time with FOCUS and switched things up on nearly every project, creating new challenges.  

While running a large group of small landlords in Philly, i have visibility into the full realm of challenges that new investors face - and some are quite overwhelming and totally unexpected because they jumped in without fully understanding what they jumped into.