Vacancy (either through longer DOM, unpaid rent or evictions) is your biggest enemy.

Biggest regret, not starting sooner!

That someone you hire is your biggest risk and it is essential you find someone reliable.Research as many people in your local market that do the work you need and talk to them on the phone.

What are the biggest factors that contribute to each type of market that make them their own?

(Look up the biggest apartments or developments and see who sponsored/is sponsoring the project.)With the right people around you and consistent execution results are inevitable.Best of luck! 

So purchase --> fix --> rent (in your case occupy) --> refinance.Househacking is where you take advantage of owner occupied incentives (including but not limited to 5% down and lower interest rates) while renting either rooms or separate apartments in the same property.With your situation, you can totally do both. 

My biggest suggestion is find a team that delivers a reliable OUTCOME for their people.My team and I help out of state investors create a six fugure passive income in Indy for example, if you think you'd be a good fit for that please let me know and I can explain more. 

If you pull up airbnb on the city, you can see regulation has not been an issue thus far.Regulation is certainly the biggest risk, but Utah is a great state for doing business with usually little government intervention in private commerce.

My apartment building is stabilized under the J-51 program which is an incentive for landlords to update older buildings as long as the keep the rents stabilized for a certain number of years.

My biggest hope with anyone that chooses to invest in our area is that they are not only doing it for the financial gain but more importantly as an investment into the community itself.