I had little choice since I was financing out of a construction loan that had little time before a ballon.

My recommendation would be to get approved as a Landlord, contact the director's office and request that an inspection be completed before a tenant is selected (sometimes they will do this as long as you select a tenant within 14 days - which you want anyways), and have an online application and screening resource in place.  

Based on your description, Party 1 seems like the safer choice.

Then you'll need to find land, acquire it, find a spec home buyer and set up meetings to design plans or buy a set online with mods.

Artwork is often personal choice, but you definitely need some stuff there.

Depending how much of the neighborhood is a hot zone for renting rather buying, and which Property type is performing better than the other (meaning 1bd 1ba 2 floor renting out faster and much more consistently than a 2bd 1ba 1 floor), you can make your choice of those factors as well as other ones that impact your decision for what you wanna do with your investment.

This gave us peace of mind and ensured that any unexpected incidents wouldn't result in major financial setbacks.These two choices have played a crucial role in optimizing our STR strategy, balancing profitability and protection.

Quote from @Zach Howard: Quote from @Jonathan Greene: If you are looking at properties in the US only on Zillow, and not seeing them in person (I know you are in Hong Kong), this is just an effort in futility because you can't underwrite single-family or small multifamily deals only online.

I just stumbled upon it online and I’m trying to research it myself. 

While I can't speak for the other markets, Columbus is a solid choice as an investor myself.