But there are so many milestones in between, the first one is when you realize REI works and you are now actually a real estate investor.

Third, if they have $2bn of agreements (whatever that even means) why haven't they actually started building anything or even closed on the land.  

Quote from @Dennis Bragg: Hey @Van Lam, I’ve actually seen a few folks in Gainesville work through a similar scenario.

Could work, but remember people that need hard money usually need it for a reason.

My answer won't be, and for two reasons.

You’d be shocked by how little actual screening many PMC’s do!

How would you deal with the report from the other tenant and how do you confirm that the smell is actually marijuana. 

(If you are out of state, you may seriously consider using a good property manager because of screening tenants, vandalism, squatting, and various other reasons -- they do protect your investment).

Saul, Phoenix and Vegas are popular markets, but I’m not sure they’ll actually cash flow well with today’s prices and interest rates.

This is just expected, would think if it did not happen it's actually bearish news.