Regardless of where you are at in your investing life there is more to learn.BiggerPockets has helped me see broader issues in RE across the country as well as  different investment approaches.Another thing is reading the stories of success and failure. 

The biggest reward of owning and managing vacation rentals is much greater than financial; the friendships I have made with people around the country are priceless.  

I know in other areas on the country they don't look at anything above 70% of ARV.I tried to fix and flip 4 hours away from where I am, and didn't enjoy it.

Not because I wasn't interested, in fact I had spent a LOT of time trying to secure such a deal, including meeting with over a dozen of these groups throughout the country.

And, yes, some failed subdivisions lose a LOT of value for landowners, all across the country. 

Small town, in the country, 2/1 on one acre.  

I wouldn't buy one from scratch if you don't have the experience. especially in miami where it's one of the most expensive places for land in the country. the areas you are talking about can exceed more than 20 million an acre depending on height allowances  

Want to stay in the middle of the country – not too far north or south.

You aren't ready based on what you said.NJ is one of the toughest flip market in the country now (Northern) because the prices to buy the dumps is high because inventory is low so the spread is too little for new flippers.

But when that comes to a reckoning, without doubt it will be something that changes the very landscape of the country and world.