I'd like to address your concern regarding the developers building tract homes all over town.  

Payment was recently made to the State of Alabama for a small tract of land. 

I notice the rents don't seem to be affected the same way sales prices are in this regard, so I target certain tracts that seem to be $10-15k lower than an equivalent home nearby.I don't worry about CAP rates or other measures.

Lots to digest here Roy N.

We are also considering transitioning into careers focused around real estate so that we can have our work life in sync with our investing strategy - currently looking for at least one of us (her most likely) becoming a real estate agent, I am considering getting into being a GC (my father was a contractor for decades) but also considering the real estate agent tract with a goal of starting a PM company once we have the experience. 

My plan this year is to buy a tract of rural land for my wife and I somewhere out in the boonies but use the tax delinquent properties as a plat form for finding these tracts of land.

I'm a new investor, economics background which means I understand math and maybe am grounded about appreciation or lack their of, however I came across "The book on rental property investing" and I again am realizing how much I know nothing.What I am learning as I digest what I can from the book is that capex on a smaller home is similar to capex on a larger property.Also, the property I am looking at is under 25k, and is not a rehab (not to my knowledge, inspection pending.).  

There is a huge amount of material to digest, memorize, and internalize in such a short time period. 

Also, this is just in the sweet spot between Forest Hills and Oak Hill--not in an area prohibited (so a TON of permits left for this census tract...49/50 as of today to be exact).Thank you!

I've digested a large amount of information as well as read a few of the books by BP or linked by BP.