The refi or additional debt of any kind will impact the current performance of your property I'm never a great fan of selling a good producing property - unless I am certain I can improve the overall performance of my portfolio. 

New built for starting out could be a bit challenging.

I eventually want to buy a house but I think as a novice this will give me some experience and the opportunity to learn the challenges that I will need to overcome once I do buy my property. 

That said, there's quite a few homes in that area that have that challenge (no driveway/street parking).

US Treasuries will not see their credit rating improve, and will, within the next 12-24 months get another (small) downgrade, inching up treasury yields.

Only challenge (as you and others have touched on) is scalability.

Challenges?

The challenge is, I’m not familiar with the local market—or the Mississippi market in general.Does anyone have insight into the market in this area or know of investors interested in properties in western Mississippi?

Any improvements that were done over the years had to be done to code of that year . 

@Charles GranjaWhile you certainly make valid points, I’ve come to realize that this unscrupulous company is quite devious, and getting things transferred from them could be a challenge.