We've used local newpapers advertising for years but cut that off last year due to low return on investment.

I digress...If you had the cash to fix it up and then just held it as a rental, it MIGHT be OK at $70k, but that's cutting it pretty close.

I'm not looking to clear cut the land but ideally I would like to cull some of the weaker trees and allow the better hardwoods to grown and to plant more desirable trees. 

Are you saying if someone found a home with a nice-sized basement and wanted to cut out a separate entrance and put in a kitchen down there, that that's not allowed in anything other than the TU zoning? 

But I may have to cut that back to 250-500.

This quest even started after having realized I have no retirement plan, and my sad 401k is probably not going to cut it.Like many, I'm having an inner battle of investing in CA or out of state (OOS).  

My parents decided to sell and just cut their losses rather than fight the board and deal with them.

If I remember correctly in California, private property ownership ends at the edge of navigable waters. 

LOL... now maybe when the politicos can't get their bottle of Silver Oak or Screaming Eagle they will take note.. but Trump does not abide so he does not care LOL.When I grew up in Cupertino as kids we cut apricots picked cherries etc etc.in Oregon folks my age used to pick berries  Blue  Bosyn black you name it.now get a 16 YO off his smart phone or computer game and put him or her out in the fields..

Yes, with a FHA loan, the CoC return is often going to be pretty solid - you just have to be comfortable with either holding it a little longer (because you'll have no equity when you sell) or confident you can add some value.If you're buying it in your name (since youbare, because it's FHA) then no, you won't be cutting a check from yourself to yourself every month for rent.