Does anyone know, or have a good idea, about the difference in returns on entitling & developing the land for each scenario, with final objective to sell to a builder to build and sell the structures him/herself.  

I really like the idea of building in that 10-15% buffer for the unexpected.

We send our clients  a comprehensive list of what we see COULD be fixed, as we have no idea how each owner will want to maintain their property(s). 

How legit is their practice if you have an idea about it?

Using the search function gave me this, hope it helps https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/62/topics/1211224-nyc-c...

Any idea about this?

I suppose I could combine the two ideas and live in a basement while renting out a 2 bedroom home to a traveling agency. 

I definitely like your ideas of focusing on location and trying to get my downpayment closer to 10% rather than 3.5%. 

Nobody flirts with idea of SEC up tail-pipe for the fun of it. 

Is this a good idea?