@Darson Grantham that ended up being what I've decided to do.

We are FI-minded and although this will be our primary residence for many years, we have an *investment* mindset and would like someone with similar values and visions to help us decide on the best property. 

An opportunity to live in Hawaii presented itself and I decided to make a go of it instead of playing it safe and comfortable, if one can call where I was safe and comfortable. 

I even looked Upstate, but decided didn't want to deal with winter weather and Property taxes in general in NY state are high..

What are your best techniques to decide on specific areas to purchase houses to rehab?

You’ll have to decide if you can wait for your rents or not.

After completing the friends and family deal, I will next have to decide how to market and whether the investors are accredited or not...but that’s down the road for me.  

My concern is, can any city where I purchase a mobile home park randomly decide to change the zoning so the mobile home park is non-conforming and no units can be brought in?  

So as a 'safer' bet, we decided that using FHA loans with a 30 year-fixed would be our best option since we intend to buy and hold.

Action, or lack there of seems to be one of the deciding factors on how successful you are in this industry.