Also, you mention snow removal, is it ever the case that the tenant is responsible for some shoveling? 

I moved to Austin because of a life change and am starting over.

So not much has changed.

Can the zoning change after the fact? 

A lot of this content was produced in the mid stages of a vacation rental frenzy, and those concepts don’t necessarily work any more.

Here's why:The Multi-State Chess Game:• Client had properties in 3 states• Each state has different deadlines to assess taxes• Federal changes trigger automatic state assessments• Timing the response saved $45K in state taxes🏠 Real Estate Investor Pro Tip:States can't assess back taxes if their statute of limitations expires before federal changes finalize.

Plus, that is the cheapest that money will ever be for you.  2.65% interest rate? 

If the unit is empty, change the locks, clean it, and get it rented.

Valuable and soon to be life changing profitability Lessons learned?

You are still exiting with a refinance and thus the terms wouldn't change on the exit whether you are buying in cash and then refinancing versus doing a construction loan and then refinancing.