If you are remote, Oakland gives you a lot of inventory with great lifestyle (food, accessibility, etc) and a bette price, but the schools are lackluster (although changing).We did the live-above-tenants thing for a year, and enjoyed it because our tenants were incredible but candidly were ready to move. 

They should have smart locks with changing access codes upon checkout.

Our safety net was our investments which we did not want to dip into.I ended up having to apply to multiple institutions for lending and although it’s been tricky, five months later, we were finally able to access capital.  

People buy properties in non-drivable markets constantly, and in general this is what David Greene's book Long-Distance Real Estate Investing is about. 

I plan to develop this land into 7 (5) acre lots providing access, power, fiber to lots edge.

There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guidesAlerts can be really helpful too: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

I intend to utilize the license for unimpeded access to the MLS and possibly do BPO work on the side. 

I thought that a HELOC was the way to go as I am able to access the capital multiple times at any time, however, after listening to David Greene's Q&A, he said that a cash out refinance would be better.If I were to invest into commercial or multifamily real estate, a cash out refinance would be better, right?

This allows you to constantly adjust and improve.

I would love to find a way to give the VA read-only access to all our accounts and have them coordinate with the lender(s).