I grew up there and still live nearby. 

My suggestions:1) Be ready to demonstrate that the as-is $1.75M purchase price is a significantly below market acquisition price2) Try to get the Seller to provide all/partial Seller financing 3) Be ready to demonstrate that there are relevant comps nearby to justify your projections4) Have an absolutely airtight scope of work and detailed cost estimate with construction milestones5) If you are convinced of the lucrative nature of this deal and your ability to make it happen, consider raising additional capital from friends/family or other sources to increase your equity contribution to the project6) The lender's will want reward commensurate with their risk: expect double-digit interest rate and a personal guaranty.

We have a nearby lake that is running out of room.

You can then start appending commercially obtained data such as contact phone numbers, emails, etc, and depending upon your method(s), you can then start reaching out however you wish - cold calls, mailers, door knocking, etc.You can even load these lists on your phone in Google maps and just drive around town, looking at where nearby properties are… drive up, click on the icon and read all about the house - yr built, sq footage, owner name, age, phones and email, etc.

I am in Orange County, if you’re nearby, I look forward to meeting you at some of the many networking events around here. 

Amazon also has rented space in other nearby buildings, where it employs about 3,000 people.For the whole article: https://bit.ly/3h39RS1Homes and condos in Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler (among other cities) would likely be attractive to this crowd.Melanie

Currently listed on FB, CL, Zillow Network, Apartments.com Network, AHRN, and notified Base Housing Office of nearby military installation.

She mentioned she lived near by and would stop by occasionally to hang out, but wouldn't be moving in.I'm going to send him (the guy wanting to rent the unit) my application and I'm wondering how you would go about the coworker situation? 

I am in the same boat you are in regards to looking both out of state and nearby. 

This is not a bad season to save up and stockpile capital.