Chris, The importance of each metric can shift based on your specific goals (buying, selling, investing), market phase, and economic conditions.

I am aware Hillsborough county is more liberal towards 7 days or less STRs but wanted to double check if anyone is aware of any zoning restrictions in specific neighborhoods in the city?

I would start with the state websites and work my way back to county and city.

I always hire the specific contractors I need for each task.

Instead, appraisal costs may be deductible as a current expense if they are incurred for the purpose of determining the property's fair market value for a specific business purpose, such as refinancing or appealing property tax assessments.

Why are posts and documentation on this website particularly advising against them?

If you have properties, a great way to promote them is with Facebook Lead Form Ads, advertise the specific property (or better yet, a list of properties) and it will attract buyers.

For this specific property, my current assessment is that while there is definitely improvements that can be made to the landscaping, for the neighborhood it doesn't make much sense to invest in it.Curious what others have experienced when it comes to attracting tenants in relation to investing in landscaping for LT rental properties.

The result of the survey are published for the whole country at their website, HUDuser.org and look for FMR, which stands for Fair Market Rent. 

Surveys are my area of expertise ;)Ultimately, I tend to agree with you that allowing pets, with specific guidelines and screening criteria for good pet owners, will often yield greater occupancy thus allowing you to increase rates.