Most places have a shortage of construction labor, which has increased the cost, but your area may not be affected.

While it is true that not every city is conducive to real estate investing, there is also no shortage of potential spots as you have already noticed.

We do still have a big disparity between certain areas (seacoast and the southern part of the state in general) and the more rural areas and much further north, in terms of how quickly stuff sells/market activity, but generally in NH the rental market is very strong, both for SFR and apartments, bolstered by the real shortage of affordable housing for local workers to buy.

There are no shortage of attorneys waiting to pounce on unsuspecting landlords who violate Fair Housing laws.

The U.S. has an affordable housing shortage.

Thomas and the other small towns around are in extreme rental crisis mode and extreme inventory shortage mode.

BDS has a good Change of Use or Occupancy flyer - https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bds/article/125287 - that lists the exact situation I'm curious about: "changing a house or duplex in a non-residential zone to a short-term vacation rental," but I can't find more detail about it anywhere else.The City has no shortage of info about accessory short-term rentals that Airbnb will partner with Portland to enforce permits for next year, but I'm interested in requirements for non-accessory short-term vacation rentals (as articulated in that link) located in non-residential zones.

Seasoned and inexperienced contractors, nationwide, are all facing labor shortage.

They tell me she gets daily emails/weekly phone calls about the shortages and they‘re doing everything they can to collect.

There is a pilot shortage, and after school and a couple of years in commuter Hell he should be able to get a well-paying job, then you could qualify and invest in good quality properties.