The acceleration of low rates has faded and we find ourselves similar to our previous norm for growth.I don't pretend to possess a crystal ball, no investor or agent could, but drawing on my experience in the daily dynamics of the market here in Raleigh, and looking at the facts, a price drop seems unlikely in the next few years.

Filing an "exemption" of your securities with the SEC does not amount to the same level of regulation as in other areas of the investing universe. 

Mortgages make a lot more sense when rates are really low. 

One thing I see as a lender is that any kind of owner-occupied loan with a low down payment will not allow you to build enough equity to refinance out of it, even when you are forcing equity with a rehab.

Oftentimes when municipalities ban STRs they will grandfather in existing operators, but if you are mid build when they do that you’re screwed  Once you’ve identified a list of “safe” markets, compare them on Airdna to see where you can likely charge the most (I’m assuming building costs will be more or less similar, so you might as well pick the area where you can earn more revenue)Also, in this market you may be able to pick up land with seller financing instead of having to buy in cash or traditional financing … potentially low or no money down, and won’t affect your personal DTI.

I think the Greenville/West Side area gives you the best of worlds: socio-economic diversity, big lot sizes, proximity to new developments and low taxes.

I have wondered though if there are government grants/tax credits for providing internet to low income tenants.

Tax rates are very high level, so you will want to adjust that as you pick a more specific location to model out.  

 - the rent control will require paying tenants to rehab but that is fairly low cost in the scheme of the rehab value add and sell

One of the best strategies if you are so inclined is to move from property to property every 1-2 years and you can do this with single family homes up to 4 unit multis and get low down payment loans on them of only 3.5-5% down payment owner occupied as opposed to most of the investment loans that require a 20% down payment.