The US's zoning obsession with only single family homes paired with NIMBY-ism and the decrease in available land means that desperately needed multi unit buildings will rarely be favored, thus the forever increasing march towards increased home values will continue unimpeded.

I know that it's in a flood zone (AE). 

Real estate is the wisest way to relatively safe, convenient, and secure venture. Allow you to generate recurring income. The more you're into it, the more you benefit from it.

A handyman can help, now that it's cold the leaves should be red or near falling off?

I would first say it depends on how many properties you wish to purchase, the size of the properties (land square meters) and which area/zone you plan on investing, and if you plan to take on commerce and labor activities such as building and developing.  

A 5 minute call to the county zoning could possibly answer your question 

Maybe you will get lucky and it's zoned for building a duplex, tri or a quad.

I was young, naive, new to real estate, and I think I almost puked with nerves when I walked out, totally out of my comfort zone. 

Would I need an architect (the space is built so perhaps it will need an architect evaluation), zoning lawyer, etc?

@Vincent Sun you can't legally rent an Austin SFR in a residential zone so that's probably out of the question.