While I agree that the purchase is an important part of the process, if you buy based on price and not on the STR aspect of the deal, it could fail.You might get the best damn deal on a property in an area that makes a terrible STR thus it isn't a deal at all.

As an example, last year we saw markets with 9% rent growth, and some with -5% rent growth -- so there is a large variance and I expect that to continue based mostly on supply dynamics as Scott said.

I'm a CT based investor, flipper and property management company owner.  

I can only speak to the Texas market, where malls that focus on creating consumer experiences (coffee shops, kids play area, entertainment-based tenants) are still performing well even in this age of online shopping.  

We determined the ARV, estimated our rehab, decided on our required profit, and then negotiated on the purchase price based on that data.

For those with coverage, whether an occurance of it is covered would be based on how it occured and did/should you have knowledge about the potential for mold.

We learned a lot about project based Section8 buildings, but are now actively pursing more projects like this.

Quote from @Robin Cloud: It's hard to make a decision based on this.

Some tenants even sort based on sub-structure so just making sure all of the details are as precise as possible. 

Set a reasonable salary for yourself (based on market standards) to ensure a stable income.