You are young, taking small steps forward now will make a huge difference down the road. 

It might hinder your ability to purchase more homes down the road.

. ;)As far as who to rent to: the group with the better credit history, higher scores, no or least criminal background, most stable job history, rent history etc.

I am hoping someone on here has gone down this road already and can provide a referral or some tips.ThanksBrian 

Zoning & Land Use is something that has a ton of importance and it seems like I need to understand how to establish road access and utilities (maybe they are already established – I’m not sure).

If you don't, it can be a rocky road.

I would rent and refinance and sell it sometime later down the road 

Used to use "oopsie" paint (tossed a bunch of  oopsie paint in 5 gallons of white paint and it always ended up a beige color) but if I used up all this paint I had nothing left for touch ups down the road. 

They make a civic look like an off road vehicle.

Hi David,(1) I don't have much to invest ($280-$350k) and would want to diversify across different properties anyway (some DSTs are diversified, and I can probably pick up three different DSTs with my proceeds);(2) no direct participation in managing properties (tired of it);(3) illiquidity is not an issue (looking for a 7-10 or longer horizon, will need some cash 8-20 years down the road to fund the kids' college);(4) prefer paper investments in general, would be able to hedge declines in the real estate market with financial instruments (have a Ph.D. in finance and a CFA designation, but a newbie to RE exchanges).