Besides the many items that a buyer needs to be aware of such as any environmental issues, whether the site has the appropriate water and sewer lines, etc., another issue which is of importance are the deed restrictions or restrictive covenants. Deed restrictions may limit the size of a building, the colors that are permitted, the minimum size or a lot, whether short-term rentals are allowed and many others.
It is important that a buyer beware of such restrictions before purchasing. They are hard to change even if these restrictions were implemented 100 years ago.
With the advent of Airbnb and other similar services, municipalities are now starting to be very concerned with the issue of short term rentals and may be making plans to enforce their zoning laws prohibiting these short term rentals in many areas.
Before buying a property, make sure, if you are buying an investment property and intend to rent it short term, that there are no deed restrictions or zoning laws which prohibit this.