As Brian said, the Columbus guys will peddle their wares to you on here hard and heavy (they already have started, it seems), as they seem to equate population growth [driven largely by annexation literally all the way out to corn fields] as the end all be all and ignore legitimately important things such as per capita GDP, or a comprehensive view of the full MSA.

@Justin Anderson This is excellent material.

.- Do you feel that being a CPA that knows tax would be a material advantage when it comes to a career as a MLO? 

When we represent others we put the criterion on the marketing material.

It is based on lociation, materials, square footage, # of stories, # of bathrooms, etc.

This is called "material participation".

Next, the short-term rental can only be active if the owner puts in more hours than anyone else by materially participating in the management of the property.

I run a top 1% team in CA for agents (I'm based in LA as well) - and would be happy to help provide you with any study materials or guidance you need along the way!

Many people use the Hardie sheets, the labor is less, but the material costs more per sq ft. 

I really want to make good data driven decisions here and not let emotion and hope cloud my judgement.