Much easier to when you start with people who understand the question.One way a friend does this (not USA based) is to set up joint ventures.

Ah yes, I own property in Tulsa but actually also have a real estate automation company with nationwide coverage - I started adding markets to the list to illustrate the range of areas we cover but should definitely add Tulsa to the list as well!

Quote from @Diana Mulvihill: Hi all,Looking for some advice, please.I started my STR about six months ago, and it’s been going great.

Congrats on getting started!

same with us, we study infill every day though through case examples. the best part about infill is no risk. buying lots like what builders are doing even national builders still are shifting the risk to local land developers. my recommendation is to look at permitted uses, price per acre, etc. if you want lower risk buy a larger tract of land from a large developer out of a 100+ acre development to lower the risk. if you are doing it from scratch work with a group who's doing subdivisions. you can go and read the subdivision plats in your recorders office online every county has one. in columbus where I do the majority of our development we are specifically starting to target zones where the economics are also favorable.

I'm brand new, just getting started, so trying to get everything in order.

I am getting ready to start my first spec home build.

Rents started to come down and I had to leave a lot more money in projects that I was in the middle of.  

Also, I'm not sure how you're paying attention to it on the tax side, but the unit that you are living in's profit at sale is calculated differently than the other unit that you're renting out.Once you move out, that unit is officially available for rent so from that point forward, any profit gained at future sale will be calculated starting from that point and will be taxable.

Finally, if you cannot find sold properties to compare within the timeframe or distance you can go out a bit to find properties to compare.This will get you started with finding values for residential 1-4.