i owned a station years ago, one of the biggest issues was if the soil is damaged from tank leakage.

They back dig it, put in gravel and drainage, pull it plumb and tie it into the back soil.

Before buying land, I would make sure to hire the right experts to assess the land topography, it’s soil quality to determine what size septic would be allowed.

.)#2 Rezoning to Approved Plot Plan where you hire engineers to get plan approved by the city/town to have structures built on the land#3 bring utilities to the lot line ready to go (water, sewer, gas, electricity) if out of city you may have to build your own waste water plant or septic system for sewer and drill well for water#4 clearing trees, grading land to have soil elevation to be relatively flat#5 bringing all utilities to each individual lot (residential subdivision, mobile home park) #6 build roads Hypothetically speaking your $100k raw land could be worth $250k after its been approved by the town to have 10-15 mobile homes built on it or worth $350k after you cleared all the trees and grading and have all utilities at the lot line.. 

I would rather buy dry cows and feed out for 90 days to get white fat than do cow calf or feeders.  

Fixing them up, raising rents to market.I'm also looking for distressed sellers, especially in the commercial space with their mortgage coming due soon.Sitting on dry powder waiting for the right opportunity.

we have some great options here between Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, if you are looking to be with in 25 min of the beach just about anywhere in this area would work. you may be able to find some great investment properties in surrounding areas but I will say 800K is going to dry up fast if you are looking for 4k in cash flowing properties on top of a primary residence in an A neighborhood. not to discourage you at all, there is plenty of opportunity in this area and Virginia Beach has great Equity opportunity compared to some surrounding cities.

During that process some hidden issues were discovered (some old pipes and dry rot) but those costs were probably less than 5k.

Two other considerations in general with STRs on well and septic is the reliability issue....if the well goes dry, that's tricky! 

My sweet spot has dried up too currently but that’s ok because I’m in a holding pattern right now and not buying at the moment.