The overall climate of your investment is much more important and valued as far as rules go. 

It would just take a few big companies moving out of the area -- due to tax issues or the political climate -- to change the entire local economy.You may think it could never happen, but are you willing to bet large sums of money on it?  

In that 50% of them have some sort of personality disorder and possess communication skills on a 2nd grade level.

There is lots of DD (due diligence) on studying the financials and climate of the association (especially openness to investors/rentals and politics).

Texas for 12 straight years has been the number one state for company relocations due to friendly business climate, no income state taxes and a highly educated and growing workforce.  

In a high tax environment those investors prefer taking gains in future years when the tax climate might be better and they pay less on the gains.To show a lot of cash flow today when they simply do not need it is not advantageous to them.  

If investing in a cold climate location,  I'd also call the gas company to provide you with the average gas bill for the past 12 months to get an accurate estimate of the Utilities for your property. 

We are considering a self-build but given the current economic climate we may wait to break ground.

There are some areas of northern California where Vacation Rentals off the grid may be marketable, but probably not in the actual northern California areas, but more the central California (north of the bay area a little in more mild climates)  In some of the mountain areas and near the coast, such as Trinity, Humbolt counties, there are drug cartels growing pot, and several people have gone missing (they stumble upon the gardens or have gone to work at the grows, never to be heard from again).

I definitely understand the delays with permitting and otherwise (particularly in today's climate).