Considering building my first rentals

[Brandon Padgett]

Hey everyone I'm new to the forum and I 'm looking to get some advice on building my first rental property.  The land I will be building on is being given to me by a relative by adding me on to the title deed so I won't have any money invested in the purchase of the land.  I'm looking to build 2 sets of one story townhouses with 5 units each so 10 units total, 2BR/2Bath.  My brother has the same 10 units (2 separate sets of 5-unit) townhouses built next to this property so I will be using a floor plan similar to his units. 

After getting the land in my name, where do I start?  I'm assuming I'll meet with someone about clearing/leveling the land since there are some trees that will need to be removed and its full of bushes and other stuff that needs to be cleared off.  I'm only going to clear enough to build the townhouses and allow for parking in the front and small back yard maybe 60 feet.  I need to find a set of plans similar to his or have someone look at his units and draw a plan for me so I can meet with a contractor for pricing.  I know a lot of people that do concrete work, flooring, sheetrock, plumbing/electrical, cabinets/tops, paint, etc. but I still need to get the units built.  I'm hoping I can find a contractor that will "dry in" the units for me and allow me to sub out the inside myself to save money. 

I have no idea on what this will cost but these units in my area rent for about 1000-1100 a month for a new build 2BR/2Bath. I'm going to have to crunch a lot of numbers for the loan, property tax, maintenance (which should hopefully be low on new builds), and I have to figure out how to obtain an insurance policy for the units. Also, I'm assuming I'll need to setup an LLC to keep my personal assets protected? It's a lot for someone who is doing this for the first time, any advice will be very helpful.