The house I bought had a strong pet odor, cat urine, and as part of the scope of work, I asked contractor to eliminate that odor, however house was repainted and work 99% complete, but odor came back.

And it eliminates a bunch of risk.

With so many buyers thinking agents suck or are out to screw them, this just eliminates the buyer's agent role...

if you intend to live in it, there are strict ATR rules for consumer loans. this means the lender will have to qualify you with income one way or another. if self-employed, you have a few options that will eliminate the need for tax returns.

Furthermore I fail to see how eliminating guaranteed buyer agent compensation being advertised on the MLS would protect buyers interests.

If possible, sourcing and working the deal myself may eliminate some of those hard cash requirements on the front end.

Covid should be a reminder vacation rentals have tempting pro forma returns, but income can get eliminated overnight.Even something as simple as seaweed - The last time we were in Tulum there were mounds of seaweed covering the sand and the water was brown as far as we could see.

These are not guaranteed to work and my PM still makes them go through a background check, but this does help eliminate a lot of the foolishness that comes with a Sect. 8 tenant that looks good on paper and when you meet them,....but they also happened to forget to mention they have "baby pit", they only smoke outside, and that their boyfriend who has 2 kids of his own all of a sudden has started living there because he "needs a place to stay.

This eliminates the need for costly filings for multiple LLCs and allows you to separate your properties. 

Eliminate doorbells.....