The level of risk you face with a lease option depends in large part to the type of lease option you are doing. 

In discussions with our realtor and a friend who owns a development company, their offer is extremely low. 

I know high level how it works, but not sure how to get started.

AG exempt land has very low carrying cost.

The risk in selling was the area and low demand but having an international network access I knew I could help gather the best offers at the time.

The rental market is very strong in Sedalia and the inventory for good rentals is low we have hundreds of people call in every month, and we always have a list of good qualified tenants just not enough listings.

So find a mentor or get into a house-hack (Low capital investment.)

Landlord friendly, low taxes, and major tech and manufacturing job growth coming down the pipeline. 

If they provide you one, I would still say I am getting my own.I would ask for full demographics of the area, including incomes, home prices, education levels, crime levels, etc.I would want to see full tenant application and any pertinent backup verifying income, employment history, landlord references, etc of the in-place tenant.I would want to talk to the property manager, if they are coming with the property.  

Like, digging into specific sub-markets and getting that super detailed intel requires more than just surface-level stuff.