Right now, land (unless in a hot market) takes a special type of buyer/developer to turn it into money, so you're better off finding the thing the people with the money want. land tends to sit a long time...

They tend to all have good incomes, little to no credit, and are self employed with lots of family.

This is the foundation of why LaPlante Real Estate is based in portfolio management and property management... my personal portfolio started in 2009 and I find the majority tends to be Section 8. 

Banks who offer construction financing tend to be 75-80% LTC and alternative/hard money lenders will sometimes offer higher LTC leverage than that.

As someone based in San Diego, I’ve also noticed that investors eyeing California real estate tend to focus on potential future development or expansion (especially if you have the patience to navigate local regs).

With growing Latino population that tends to have a lot bigger family, I am not worried about finding guests.

You STRs tend to be a little higher end and guests have higher expectations.

Larger owners tend to analyze market rents monthly or even weekly and manage rents (or incentives) the best way they can.As long as the owner is engaged, the chance of adjusting rents is higher.

That typically puts your rent to sales price around .75-.8 ish give or take but these areas tend to appreciate more consistently from what I've seen and the rental clientele is more consistent. 

I'd recommend working with someone that could also help you on things in the future that tend to come up for landlords.