we do a lot of infill building.. this only works in HIGHLY desirable areas @Wayne Brooks  as Wayne states not sure were your thinking the value play is here.now there are plenty of folks that buy cheapo lots in FLA like Lehigh acres then sell for a few grand more on contracts those are the land flipping guru's you see that's what they teach.. and there are millions upon millions of lots available for this type of activity generally in FLA  and West Texas  AZ CA and other areas that had massive land speculation booms in the turn of the century.. think Lancaster Palmdale in CA there are million plus platted lots there that get traded around at tax sales every year.to find land with value to builders you need infill in established areas.. close to down towns.. in areas that are regentrifying .. lots that have shadow plats beneath them. or you can split using a lot confirmation technique ( common in Portland)  you need to work areas of Scarcity .. 

I would break even on it (at best) if it werent for the massive run up in DC real estate over the past decade and a half.

Massive loan docs take time. 

Plus in my personal opinion it is way too saturated and there will be less demand for rent in the future due to the massive supply. 

Neighborhood with massive growth in the last 5 years may not have massive growth the next 5 years.   

My theory is that since there is such massive insecurity in not owning the roof over their heads, surrounding and in some cases burying themselves in junk is like self-medicating against the anxiety.

Those properties could could sustain a massive hit to value and still deliver him a big chunk of gain simply by holding. 

He had a few other properties in Cancun, a lot in a development community right on the beach, and a pair of massive farms where he had big plans.

If I were to even consider going the multi-family route, I would have at least one business partner (who I'm actively talking about this with).With that said, considering the massive price jumps (SFH vs MF), the SFH is the no brainer unless I'm missing something.

Unless this job includes a ton of transitions, needs massive floor leveling, or has a million tiny corners he'll have to custom cut, then $1900 is pretty darn high.