If you have well defined investing guidelines you don't need a crystal ball. 

In some markets you only have a short window of opportunity before someone else will land the deal and you will miss out.

Do yourself a favor, move your focus further south and forget crystal meth land Daytona. 

With RE I'm buying the land, building, and cash flow/appreciation with it.

There are no secret negotiating tricks, low ball offers with love letters, or highly intelligent investors from afar that can win bids due to awesome use of language. 

Quote from @Zachary Cain Humphrey: I believe one of the best methods to create wealth right now via STR is to buy land and build new construction.

I'm just south of you in the Hernando area and would be happy to talk ball with you.

But California also has pretty onerous land-use regulations that limit supply, and there’s been a lot less financial distress than people were expecting, with one of the lowest loan-to-value ratios on outstanding mortgages in the country.

In Illinois you can own properties in a land trust that is managed by an LLC.

I just landed an internship in a zoning office and I have been doing it all to raise funds to put towards my first investment property.