Some will argue this hurts conversion as it is clearly "bulk mail" to the recipient as well, and that it is worth spending a little more on postage.

You can spend a lot of time and A LOT of money researching and paying for partnerships, agreements, LLC's, paperwork, filings, etc...These are important questions.  

Very few jurisdictions allow tiny homes as they do not meet any building codes.If you are not going to sell the lot go see the local building inspector to find out what you can do before you spend a dime.

Using savings is no good unless you lock that money in escrow, because you can always spend it. 

Is it realistic to think that at some point in ones life, these areas will experience a revival- either because jobs returned or because of forced use because we need places to park people as the population grows? 

spend $1000 +/- on a CPA and he will figure it all out @Nick Janovich

If you start swinging the hammer during the little time you have left after the full time job and spending time with your family, it might take you months to finish the renovation.

Realistically, considering we are new my primary goal is to increase deal flow.

If youre willing to spend a little money, use listsource to pull recent absentee owner purchases for the past 6 months.

Spend at least 6 months to a year educating yourself about real estate investment.