Have considered bank note investing, tax lien/deed investing, loaning it out, etc. 

I have been paying a lot of taxes every year from selling stocks and have a high W2.

This has to be one of the least friendly states to be a landlord, and the taxes are high.

We are wanting to start a House Flipping business and are just looking for some legal and tax advice.

Now post-COVID you have a larger inventory, increased prices, increased interest rates, increased property taxes, increased regulation (even Smokies are now requiring permits) and increased insurance and at the same time return of the reduced Pre-COVID occupancy numbers. 

Any other surprises such as higher tax rates, preservation requirements, flood insurance, etc?

And fun fact, most states exempt groceries from sales tax, (again, actual groceries that are whole food, and not processed).

Before going into this, though I would be very conservative in your analysis of cost to renovate and what you think market rent (along with increases in taxes and insurance) would be so that once you are ready to refi into a longer term loan, your DSCR is rock solid and so is your cash. 

Since land values tend to be higher in the resort areas, that can have a negative effect on tax benefits.

Section 8 comes with benefits like reliable government-backed income, potential tax advantages, and lower vacancy rates.