This contractor had a very specific task that they essentially defined. 

Spend some time defining your goals and what size and shape the multiplex is going to be.

@Stone Jin“Related Party Transactions Defined Related party 1031 Exchange transactions occur when you sell your relinquished property to a related party or you buy your like-kind replacement property from a related party

Your PMA should have defined every element that went wrong in your story. 

For me a cash flow of a couple hundred isn't a good deal, but this is my target market and you'll have to define what you consider good. 

Define default and what happens if you go into default (ie. exercise their rights per the deed of trust which spells out how they take control or sell the property)This isn't everything but it's a start.

Even if you could predict when, and even if you when you were in it, you are missing deals that you could be making...waiting for something that is hard to define until years after it has happened.Here's my tagline at the bottom of all my emails:  "The things that come to those who wait, are the things that are left behind, by those that get there first".

What bases are you currently interested in and what would you define as your criteria for decent real estate markets?

$150-$225 in denver for a spec selling in the $1-2 million range... but then again it depends how you define construction costs.

A strong Independent Contract Agreement clearly defines the work that the Contractor needs to perform, when the work needs to be completed and how much the Contractor will be compensated.