I am considering a new build near Nashville and wanted to reach out to the community to try to get in contact with someone more familiar with the process. 

I recently bought my first house in the Nashville area and plan to live in it and do some diy/sweat equity renovation over the next couple years.

So we made it to Nashville.

To introduce myself - I'm located in Nashville and started investing with my girlfriend in 2018 when we purchased our first property.

My primary is in Nashville and the city has awful restrictions on Airbnb.

If I were to invest in residential real estate in a hot market down south (Austin, Tampa, Nashville...), do you think it would be best to do it now while interest rates are low and people are in the midst of flocking there from the northeast and CA?

I've been learning about the lease option concept but haven't had luck yet finding motivated sellers near Nashville where I'm spending the winter.

Grounding in your goal of FI and then evaluating what path gets you there fastest for the life of freedom you want is a great situation to be in.You noted your primary home was in TN - I am south of Nashville and I am in Knoxville and Gatlinburg regularly with some properties there. 

We love Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin.

In Nashville and Paris (my second base), I cooperate closely with an experienced Real Estate Broker.