Building equity in your house is one of the biggest financial advantages of homeownership.

You haven't even asked about your BIGGEST challenge - finding "trustworthy" contractors.- Most contractors will cut corners, or worse, once they figure out they won't be watched closely:( Your job will also go to the bottom of their priority list.Monitoring progress is relatively easy: hire that same inspector to go by weekly or before any payments to take a VIDEO of:1) What was done2) Quality of workmanshipOne other thing you didn't ask about, payments to contractors.- They all want 50% down or as much as they can squeeze out of you. 

That's because the city won't calculate the actual amount till a structure is built, aka it's not just a plot of land anymore.This will obvious cause your property tax bill to go up and also your mortgage escrow account as well (sometimes these things can make your mortgage shoot up a few hundred a month). 

The biggest factor is thoroughly review their credit score report especially on time payment record and score.

The biggest problem is selling.Here is a good example.

Agreed that it's the best neighborhood in the city!

I think the biggest mistake that people make, is thinking that investing in STR´s is some totally different style of real estate. 

He also doesn't control regulations in the states/cities, but his attempts to cut regulations may trickle down and impact personal property rights and people's ability to use their properties as they see fit.

For practitioners in the real estate industry, the biggest challenge is not just the difficult work, high risks, or immense pressure, but the necessity to learn to let go of complete control over outcomes.

I've often found that the biggest competitive advantage you have when you are getting started is proximity!