on the area just going for the size of property you want you will be limited to our urban core. 

I would say stop wasting your time chasing those county programs which are turned on and off like a water faucet and concentrate on making money with buyers who have 3% to put down.Or, sell them on a 100% USDA loan and get them to move out of the city limits, buy more house for the money and their kids can have a pony!  

The ground lease will usually spell out site improvements the tenant wants and connections.Best thing usually is to connect with a local commercial attorney familiar with development to get your questions answered.You try to limit up front costs but even then you can spend tens of thousands on some deals that do not work.  

Outside meeting with a few buddies who own rentals to pick their brain on their process, my knowledge is pretty limited. 

Hey all, What measures do you take before renting to tenants?

You will also want to start reaching out to contractors however, this may be something to tackle when you have a sense of what you want built and what your limitations are.

I've found that in commercial loans that you are limited by your net worth. 

The competition has increased, amongst growers, but there's still a limited number of buyers.

If you have limited investing experience, I would highly suggest sticking in your area/state.

Things may have changed, but I believe GA has some limits on how many notes you can own in that state before you need to obtain a license.