He started out doing some snow shoveling and plowing for me and then some mowing when I was out of town and now he is my right hand man.

In my area , you would have a minimum of 1 year from the time you bought the land until you could stick a shovel in the ground .

A lot of young people moving to FL are doing what their parents were always just talking about doing some day, but never did.

It's only 3.5% down + closing costs and reserves.Work your day job, mow lawns, leaf cleanup, shovel snow, flip furniture, pick up night shifts waiting tables/bartending, stock shelves at home depot overnight if you hate talking to people or anything else.

Middle of city, shovel ready with electric/water/sewer/roads/entrances, etc. 

But again its about recommending to them to pack a sufficient food and drink supply if a storm is possible.We also to try have ice melt and snow shovels on hand, extra blankets and stuff like that.To mitigate some of this think about a full time back up generator to keep the power.  

Depending on where you live you can mow lawns or shovel snow.

Each municipality is different but you should be verifying the steps needed to get the this parcel shovel ready and consider that an insurance policy. 

For example We know historically areas like Memphis, Birm, Little Rock only appreciate 3-4% a year but areas like SW FL are about 8-10%.

I used to mow her lawn and shovel her side walks.