And would like to use this benefit to buy the land and build a home on it. 

Lately he has bought local restaurant businesses, primarily, but also apartment buildings, land, MHPs, and other commercial properties. 

remember payments may only be 400 a month at best.. 6 months reserves is a whopping 2400 dollars.. so someone theoretically with less than 10k in cash could get into these properties.. this William I personally think is highly dangerous for lender and for buyer... its not losing the 10k that's nothing its getting your personal credit trashed when you can't make the payments because you lost all your cash.IMHO if you want to be in the rental game you need 20 to 30k liquid at anyone time that you don't have to borrower etc.. this will insulate you from taking a loss. as you build units of course its not exponential but you need a base.And since this is not TRUE cash equity only paper equity there is no hope of selling them for a profit or what you have in them.. 

However, once I get my own home purchase out the way, the next move is to start building a rental property portfolio. 

Remember, you are demanding these funds from the county or state.

I live in Wilmington and invest in the general area of New Castle County. 

There are challenges everywhere for different reasons -- weather, building codes, tenant culture, competitive market, high cost of labor. 

I personally have 12-doors there and focused on the BRRRR method when I was building my portfolio.

In addition to checking out local crime statistics via county and city websites, you may want to check out this website: https://crimegrade.org/. 

I would suggest googling (or using Instagram) to find designers in your area that fit your style and visiting their website to see what services they offer.Another avenue is to search for interior design "build recipes" or "design recipes".