I haven't ever found an easy money scheme and in my experience when everyone and their uncle starts jumping on the bandwagon it might be time to take a step back and wait for the correction.  

I know I know getting property won't be an issue, I've done it once and that experience helped me so much, but what if i wanted to acquire two properties this year?

I'm sure there are many more experiences where the contractor hasn't fulfilled their scope of work and gotten away with rushing the project to meet the deadline, And, I don't want to be as naive to say that I'm that 1% who can have complete quality/operational control, but I'm confident I can establish a system and hire independent inspectors to review the contractor's work. 

For now, staying local allows me to leverage my property management experience—most of which came from working directly for family and close business associates who were property managers, contractors, and business owners.

If so how was your experience?

Research them away from their reviews and see real experiences.

That process has direct lender involvement.Where the challenge lies, is when unsophisticated "investors" with no experience, no money and no reserves use creative financing (often called wrap, subto, lease option, seller financing, land contract) to purchase properties and along the way there is a "hiccup".

Asking to anyone who has experience, knowledge or connections in these southern texas markets, how has this or does it affect your real estate strategy and returns? 

If you decide to pursue this option be sure to EXPLICITLY spell out how the maintenance of the buildings will be handled as these types of facilities tend to be hard on property from my experience.

I would talk to some lenders  getting land loans and development loans with no experience is next to impossible starting out..