Work with the city and local brokers to identify the exact product type to meet the housing needs of the area.

You lost me completely by your failure to understand that if a buyer approaches a seller and offers to take over their property subject to the lender's lien, and stops paying and puts that borrower into default or, if the borrower was in default already, that "buyer" may run afoul of local/state laws and may be accused of equity skimming.

Go to a local convenience store, see what kind of people live there. 

Building on a lake requires experience with the locale and building regulations.

And the huge upshot is that I will be there in person living in one unit to ensure stabilization is smooth, and staying local (living 10-15 miles away but probably using it as an office weekly) for years to come.

@Arianna FarinasI like house hacking locally first.  

I'd advise you to either do a few deals in your local market- I don't know where you live, but yes, deals are possible there and people are investing.

After speaking with a local realtor and lender for quite some time to just get some information, they advised me that we are currently in a "buyers market" compared to a "sellers market."

Often times even if its a single family home or a multi with separated utilities there are some utilities provided by local government.

The local paper or county website will have all the info you need for auctions, tax deeds, foreclosures, etc.