The wrong chemistry, well, see what happens if you put a few drops of brake fluid into dry pool chlorine (actually, do not do this!).

Turns out, the previous owner did take many steps to mitigate the moisture damage and the home was very dry and mold free when we acquired it.

PIf it didn't smell when the tenant moved in, and if the trap hasn't dried out from non-use (or even if it has), then the tenant probably caused the smell. 

They come in with a different name usually acquired by buying out a small/mid company, wipe the market with unlimited funds backed by fed and big banks, dry the pool and leave when there is nothing left. 

This will reduce your risk and cash invested and if something goes wrong you wont be bled dry with never ending repairs.

One of the REPS cases (I forget which off hand) they were basically like...petitioner states they spent 8 hours on X date supervising painters at the property and we find it highly unlikely that anyone would sit and watch paint dry for 8 hours. 

I will be moving to Austin myself in two years, since Austin market is quite dried up, thinking of investing in SA as OOS.

You gone bleed yourself dry at those numbers. 

So many of the builds I've visited, some multiple times, seem to be frozen in time: the homes are dried-in (roof paper, windows and doors), tiled floors, drywall installed, and then a dead-stop.

Helps with your debt to income, better opportunities at cash flow, and typically requires less down to purchase.In regards to challenges, I usually build in an extra 10-15% to deal with things that I can't see behind the walls, including dry rot, electrical or plumbing issues, etc.