thanks you for the response, reading the link now. I know those questions need to be answered, but I was thinking (maybe incorrectly) that I would decide on the land first, and then determine how best to capitalize on it.
If you want to buy the land for yourself in FIRE, but you would like to monetize it before you FIRE when you cannot use it. Then it would make sense to pick the land as per your FIRE and personal requirements.
If you are looking for just monetizing it upfront(i.e as an investment), then you need to answer a lot of questions to make sure that it is a good investment opportunity.
You need to figure out which of the two above scenarios apply to you. I get the feeling that this opportunity has come your way and are trying to convince yourself that you can monetize it. Your gut is telling you it is a good deal but please run the numbers.
If I look at it like that, just the land, how do you factor in whether it's a good deal. Things like appreciation, opportunity for income (cabins, etc..), anything else?
Find out the cost. $99k + closing costs + development costs (road, parking) + cabins. All costs for the business.
Next, find out what you can rent it. Get a number for the whole year.
Now, does it meet the 1% or 2% rule?
Now, this is in Appalachia. Not really sure that there is going to be any appreciation, but I could be wrong. Look at other properties and see how they behaved. Is the population increasing, are there any industries or jobs coming there?
Try and find a mentor who knows this business and can help you think thru the problem.
The land is $99,000, so it would not be a big dent in my current situation, but I also don't want to throw money away. I thought having the electricity and the septic would save a bit of money if/when we decide to build on it.
any other things I need to look at, or should I only be looking at this deal, if I can make the business of running rental cabins work??
This statement makes me think that you have found the property and are now trying to convince yourself that it is a great deal if you monetize it. Again, it may be a great deal, but you need to run the numbers.
A good real estate investor is always looking for ideas. Read a few blogs. I think there are spreadsheet templates available to check if this is a good deal. The bigger pockets forum (biggerpockets.com) has a lot of activity. Read the articles and get involved in the community. After some time, you should be able to immediately find out whether it is a great deal or not.
On this sub-forum, there are a few stickied articles. Read those. One of them is
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/evaluating-a-rental-property/ which should give you an idea on how to get started.