I think it’s a more recent consideration (maybe in the past decade or so based on my digging / anecdotal feedback) and perhaps some of you that have been in the business longer and simply renewing old policies may be getting a pass.  

Kudos to you all for taking the time to address the main considerations (timelines, finances, relationships/family planning, etc) before getting too far down the path. 

Marcus & Millichap’s report also mentions the importance of universities to Pittsburgh’s rental market, “The considerable number of universities in Pittsburgh will provide a diverse hiring pool for the area’s growing tech sector in 2017 and beyond.

My post rate has went down considerably as of late.

I just used cash to build my first 3 specs no loans at all.. once done and sold then I went to lima got one loan from them.. then went to local bank ( much much cheaper) and got a 3 mil  guidance line and went on to build 30 or so in charleston.. you have to prove the model.. its not like buying a rental where lenders look strongly at your fico  fico is required but not the main consideration like and investor loan and all you need is 20% down or 30% down and a few bucks in reserve that wont fly with spec loans..

You raise an interesting point for consideration. 

Do some smaller dollar private lendingA property is too capital intensive and $20k will not get you very far.You also did not describe what level of risk you want to take, so that is something also to take into consideration when evaluating where to invest.

And how much of this (taxes, regulations) is a reaction to investors setting up STRs anywhere and everywhere without any consideration to the neighborhood they are doing it in and the impact on that neighborhood.

Once you do that get several bids...bids will vary considerably.  

Also if a unit is renovated then the rent can be increased by a considerable amount.