This makes it a safer bet than unpredictable market investments.

Your best bet is to consult with a few contractors to get some bids and go from there. 

It would be best to get it from friends and familyThose with little experience are struggling to raise money (I am in a group with 20+ syndicators and everyone is raising less and those who are first timers are basically drying up after first $500k-$1M)As mentioned syndication route would be your best bet but make sure to have a great plan in place on what you are going to do and how you will exit

I'm also hesitant to bet heavily on permanent tax deferral strategies (e.g., "buy, borrow, die") as a lot could change about the tax code over my lifetime.

I lived off of those commission notes for first half of the 80s.. not always did i have to do that but I bet I stack up 100k or more of those notes and in early 80s that was real money LOL..

That's a very fair explanation.....I bet most people never think about that...

I bet the seller is motivated to sell.

Most homes I bet were spec / tract homes, at least around here.

In the first five years you will pay the loan down $26,742 (the total of the rows in the “Principal” column).

@Logan M.And I bet it has tons more impact when delivered that way They know you mean business