They might refuse since you are not the owner.

it will be a corporate/wellness retreat/short term rental destinationI need land that is close to the Action, but not too close, and preferably comes with two single family doors already built, so I can take advantage of Fannie Mae owner occupied loan and develop the rest of the land on my own and with private funding.Is Columbus a good market for this strategy?

As an owner you're allowed to manage your own properties.  

I got a hold of the owner by looking up his information on the county website.

I'm calculating for prop management even though I would likely owner-operate because I need to make something off the deal if I am focused on cashflow, especially if I scale and actually need to hire a manager.Given that interest rates in the area are about 7% and prices for single family and small multifamily have doubled (and tripled) in 7 years, the barrier feels way higher than it really should be.

I've been made an offer of 50% down and for me (my Solo) to owner finance the other 50%.

If you are interested in becoming a landlord or buy and hold investor a great way to get started is by house hacking a multifamily with an owner occupied loan. 

The sale evidently resulted in Quest’s owners getting zippo (hearsay, working to confirm that). 

.: In a prior post from about 2 months ago, Kerry Malarkey and Nathan Gesner mentioned a small landlord is exempt from FHA requirements requiring the acceptance of emotional support & assistance animals if one of the following is true:"Owner-occupied buildings Properties with four units or fewer that are owned and lived in by the ownerSingle-family homes Homes that are sold or rented without a broker by the owner, as long as the owner doesn't own more than three at once" (Quote from Nathan's reply))https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1219359-pitbu...Given this, if a landlord does qualify for the exemption, what exactly does this mean? 

In New Hampshire, title laws are strict, so we couldn’t move forward without obtaining a signature from a living heir.The title company dug deep and eventually located a distant relative—a niece of the deceased owner, two generations removed.