I moved here from Florida after doing a ton of research on different real estate markets. 

They at one point had a guy working for them that honestly turned us off and we decided NOT to invest at that juncture (he is no longer there)... only to reconnect with the team and began to work with them in a fund closing in early 2022.

We have a tons of lots around here like the one you described, many of which can be bought for cheap and are not listed because there are just barely any buyers for such.

I have recently started utilizing this platform for just that and I've already had some great conversations with people here. 

It also has the benefit of being local which is great training wheels as you learn how to be a killer host.Now assuming that you mostly want a cool property to stay in sometimes near water and don't want to spend a ton of time managing I really like the outer banks in NC.

Or find a property that is under-utilized or has below market rents.Otherwise, you could also do the OPPOSITE of the great advice from @Jonathan Greene and buy a property with multi-bed units or live in the larger unit and rent out the smaller unit - while getting a roommate(s).

That's just the max they will pay for rent plus utilities.

There is always a "rain delay" or "the foremans truck didn't start" or "We called in the stake out, but they didn't do it yet" (Sorry they are big on stake outs and I have never had the towns/utilities be off when requested on time).

(If there’s isn’t a checkbox for utilities on).

But 1k a month in utilities definitely seems high.