Materials can vary widely in pricing, so get labor only bids until you have a few projects under your belt.

Intro-Hello BiggerPockets Community,Thank you for allowing me into your community, I am very happy to see such a wide range of investors and hungry individuals.  

I don't know if it is state wide but the counties in and around DFW have limited us to 1 water well per 2 acres and aerobic septic to half acre lots. 

I feel that with education, you can limit your risk to some extent within this market.

A lot depends on your appraiser/lender.I wouldn't necessarily worry about rent control issues, only to the extent that the city may attempt to convince you to keep your pre-existing tenants for longer than you'd like when you move in (your old tenants may call the mayor and/or city when they figure out you are raising the rent, and the mayor/city is very proactive about trying to help tenants in need, etc.).

If you buy a condo, check the condo docs (they might be on file online via the Registry of Deeds, if not you'd need to check with the seller) to see to what extent they allow rentals.  

I like having my hands in the game to a certain extent. 

I didnt do this and have lost one potential tenant to a neighbors dog, and have had my own bad bad thoughts wide awake at 2am on how to handle the barking.  

Your tenant just wants you to stay the hell away and no sooner are you relaxed then the place becomes part of a city wide drug raid.

The great thing about real estate is that it allows you to leverage money, people, resources.So yes, if you are on the leverage side I would use it to the fullest extent possible.