Within 2 years of this or during a tenant turover, you have to pay to have your walls tested for LPB lead based paint, no exemption on property size (ex:sfr or 500 unit) Unless it was built after 1978, certified free of LBP, SFR or duplex and rented under 6 months, and some other wacky exemption.  

Market rent in the area is around $1,800-$2,000, although working market rent out is hard as there's nothing of this size, or condition available in this pocket of the Columbus. 

Yes, currently there are new builds going for 30k off, with builder buying down points, and covering a portion of closing costs.

Of course, this strategy isn't one-size-fits-all, and I'm always open to learning more from others’ experiences.

It will take a long time to recoup the cost on a property this size. 

Do you notice a sweet spot both in property size/vicinity to the beach?

She agreed to refund a portion of our money since they never completed the onboarding process.

If you already have a preliminary site layout showing the size and quantity of buildings you can put on the lot, you should be able to take that work on some budget construction costs and from there work your possible rents into the equation to see if what you have drawn makes sense cost wise, or if there is a more efficient way to lay the site out and reduce costs. 

I’ve been have trouble obtaining the latter portion.

Once we get to the size of the house it's a no go.