A regular partition wall with insulation is not going to cut it for noise sensitive residents.

I have since done the demo work to remove the paneling and replace / add insulation and the new electric work is now hanging in place in "old work" electrical boxes.

Asbestos can be in everything from pipe wrappings, to insulation and tiles. 

Start with taking off the drywall in that one wall take the insulation out go inside the attic and find the leak if it's a small pinhole leak put a pipe clamp on it save you a lot of money and time a bigger leak you can probably take care of it couple hundred bucks if it's PVC pipe do it yourself cut the water off and replace it...

And it's still one of the least expensive areas of the state to live in so I think STRs are plausible and fairly insulated from seasonality since we have year round recreation.

I make sure they're well insulated, have replacement windows, spend more on nice flooring that looks great (plank style / wood-look porcelain tile, hardwood or click-together LVT planks, not peel-and-stick squares). 

Each of the 5 warehouses on this campus will require updates (construction of offices/bathrooms, roof repairs, paint, siding repairs, new penetrations for doors, updates to electrical, insulation, and extension of water and sewer). 

Winter doesn't bring too much extra cost as long as the home doesn't have outdated appliances and has sufficient insulation.

Quote from @JD Martin: I can't speak to rates - I think eventually they come down out of sheer necessity - but as far as the economy we must be living in an insulated bubble up here in Northeast Tennessee; no one has bothered telling us the economy is bad.

There are still plenty of mold-factory basement guys working, especially down in the southern states where insulation isn't the same kind of problem it is in, say, Minnesota.I am a handyman.