Apply for a dimensional variance on the vacant lot to allow a smaller lot and/or setback so it can be built upon.Your best first steps are to sketch a plan, possibly with an engineer's help, then contact the zoning department to discuss your idea with them to get informal feedback on your liklihood of success before you spend a lot of money.

My first live-in flip was a distressed 3,600 sqft home, shockingly not old just built in the 90s, but totally shot.

Buying a large new build home can also work well as a house hack as you can charge a premium rent, and generally most bedrooms built now a days have en suites (at least in my market).  

With that being said, in a worst case scenario, you can always hire a property management company to handle the day to day items if it comes to that. 

In The Tampa Bay Area local investor in the items inside the home/business but looking to get with the right people to build a team.

These areas not only offer reasonable purchase prices for most investors but also feature turnkey homes—either newly built or fully renovated, ready for tenants, with systems that still have 10+ years of life remaining, and property management teams in place.

Nonetheless if you can build a 7 plex for $700K (in my area, things are getting built for $200-300 a square foot), it definitely seems like a profitable endeavor. 

Gotta work on that reading comprehension, Drew.The second and third sentences of my post are literally:"I lived in Detroit for 5 years before moving out of state, and during that time, I built a strong network of contractors, handymen, and other boots-on-the-ground contacts.

I lost a fund that was going to build 25 of these they decided on Austin Texas. land is cheap in ohio. there's 5 plots of land right now for 40k or 50k and we build houses 10x land cost or 10% land cost of after built value. don't do existing it's not worth it.

@Jorge Abreu You're absolutely right—success in real estate (or any venture) is built on mindset, systems, and resilience.