I have areas about a hour where I live with a military base houses around 90-180k not great area but hopefully a good spot to start. 

These are smaller spots that have a mailing address in a municipality (like Clearwater), but aren't technically inside the city boundaries so they default to the County.The tough part would be the 10 minutes max from the beach.

Perhaps a tool like this could help spot supply-demand imbalances and/or misspriced lots; then those under-$40k lots (avg) could be bought & resold for 1.3-1.5x.Here's a public test of the currently listed lots, three per state, suggested by the tool:GA:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Ralston-Ga...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/71-Laurel-...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Aubery-Ln-...ME:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/68-Quarry-...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/9-Surry-By...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Sunset-Hil...NC:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Old-Crows-...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Turkey-Run...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Bear-Cliff...NY:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Hemlock-Ln...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Middlefiel...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/231-Burke-...PA:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Purple-Mar...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/14-Pocono-...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Billy-Ln-L...VA:- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Dillards-H...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Egypt-Bend...- https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Riverbend-...The areas where the tool "looks" were pre-screened.

It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.6.

I invest south of the city but I find that there are very clear appreciation spots and very distinct areas that are good cash flow but little appreciation.  

But before you invest a single dollar, please thoroughly educate yourself on these investments—while they can be great, there are land mines and you need to know how to spot them.  

I just had one mark a corner cabinet lazy Susan because it doesn’t turn full 360 degrees even though it’s designed to catch at certain spot.

BP library gives a huge boost into the knowledge area which is pretty much sufficient to get comfortable in investing and help find a sweet spot where you could use your background to shift the area. 

He is spot on. 

In terms of up and coming locations....If you drop a pin anywhere in Middle Tn it's going to be a "hot spot" in the near future if it already hasn't become one.