Based on some quick research it looks like you need to complete inspections with the local authority having jurisdiction to have a certificate that enables you to rent your building. 

There are databases for costs of materials deisgned for trades and there are also databases that show averages on certain jobs.

Lack of reservesThe one enabler I would add to @shiloh lundahl advice is if you don't have sufficient reserves - partner with someone who does.

It will just take longer to accumulate a portfolio enabling you to retire. 

It wouldn't be a surprise that in nice neighborhoods almost every household would have a stable paycheck enabled by WFH. 

Tesla and Electrify America buildouts enable substantial coverage.

Since the rates are November thru November, I maintain a database showing the rate for each month. 

This enabled us to turn our old house into our second longterm rental.

Brookfield’s new fund, for example, purchased the two-thirds stake in mall giant GGP Inc. that Brookfield didn’t already own.Brookfield’s scale enables it to get returns “you simply can’t get if you’re an individual investor buying an individual mall,” said Brian Kingston, chief executive of Brookfield’s real-estate arm.Blackstone’s global co-head of real estate, Kenneth Caplan, who declined to comment on the fundraising, said markets are fickle and whether or not there are opportunities to buy “can change pretty quickly.”Some funds are setting less ambitious fundraising targets.

Hi @Max Warner - I'm by no means a STR expert but am generally happy to network about real estate in Rhode Island.At this point it's still town-by-town so the "horse's mouth" is really just calling (or visiting) and asking the building/zoning department for each town.There was an attempt to make a state-wide, required short-term rental registry/database, but Governor McKee vetoed it.It remains to be seen whether the General Assembly will successfully override that veto but some folks have certainly been pushing in that direction.So for the moment, you still just really need to check with the city/town.