A big factor is price-point for the location however, and how the property compares to similar recent sales of course.

An S-corp on top can make sense for active income (flips, wholesaling, property management), but it doesn’t usually reduce tax on pure rental income and can add payroll and multi-state filing complexity.With multiple states (NC/SC/GA/FL), you’ll also want to factor in state filing and nexus before stacking entities.You’re smart to think about protecting assets and your 22% bracket, but I’d model a simple version first (just LLCs + your current return) and only layer in an S-corp if the numbers and activity level really justify it.

Environmental factors, such as flooding vulnerabilities, necessitate investments in resilient properties, adding to upfront costs.

Even $50k trapped and I have a 200% short term return from the value added above alone.if I have $0 invested, even a couple hundred a month of real cash flow (after properly allocating for all expenses including future cap ex) produces a great return.i suspect there is no bigger factor in the return than the value added and this is because the higher the value added, the less money gets trapped in the property.  

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23If a purchase, you also generally need reserves / savings to show you have 3-6 month payments of PITIA (principal / interest (mortgage payment), property taxes and insurance and HOA (if applicable).

From an investor standpoint, when you factor in lower CapEx, warranties, energy efficiency, and potential rate buy-downs, new builds can actually offer better risk-adjusted returns than older resales.

My biggest factors are 1.

Maintenance is the single biggest factor in tenant satisfaction, and tenant satisfaction drives renewals.Second, you’re right: December is about the toughest month of the year to lease a property.

Many of the factors mentioned also give strength to the fact that is a very stable market.

It can also be a combination of factors, like issue always being there, but not as noticeable with colder AC air.