FL and TX have been very popular and have large markets we try to help revitalize as well! 

Also, if anyone has any experience in land purchasing I would appreciate any tips or websites on how to find the best deal or agent for the same.

We do have cash available, but with a large amount of equity in our primary residence, we wanted to avoid tapping into that cash to instead take advantage of our equity.

I would recommend opening up a brokerage account with Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard or any other large firm like this. 

This is a large National Self Storagecompany, thus they don’t want your Business name, website, etc.

BiggerPockets website is good for the American market (mostly) but you will also find lots of Canadians on here and some good info on the Canadian market just by searching.There are worthwhile local West Coast resources for learning real estate investing in general and the Canadian and Vancouver markets in particular.

The buyer's agent, though excellent, was new and unsure how to handle the situation.

Little Rock, Arkansas, is an excellent market for real estate investment.

I do direct booking through the Houfy website, taking credit card payment by Square. 

HOWEVER - it may be difficult for the appraiser to access the true value if a large percentage of transactions are not in the MLS.