If so you should be able to cancel but if you are doing it out of the inspection period you are stuck and could run the risk of losing your earnest money if you put any down. 

My question is, because my agent was involved in showing the home and made offers for us while it was listed (6 months ago) should I go through them or it is okay to pursue this as any other off market property without an agent?

With 20 years of experience managing 30+ long-term rentals, a few STRs, and running a property management company in Central Florida, I’ve learned both have their place in a portfolio if you diversify based on your risk tolerance and the timing for your goals.

With 34 years of real estate investing experience, I’ve been involved in everything from owning rental properties to flipping.

That being said, I had to translate a lot of documents on my own for the loan process, so there was more effort involved.

I think with the time you’ll spend working on this, you could find 2-3 existing parks to buy in the meantime and not need to take anywhere near the same risk  

It's a lot quicker, and you can minimize the risk substantially.

I am left to wonder, though some investors with SFR's are doing it successfully, is the risk too high for the reward?

Landlords can easily do it without a mortgage but they are taking a huge risk.

Since you're in Destin, you might want to check with local firms that have experience with STR-heavy communities, as they’ll be familiar with the risks and requirements.