My thinking is I can not as it probably works as I does in the stock market with my IRA.

Unfortunately there competitiveness in the market and cut throat antics give the other offices (company) a bad name. 

What market are you referencing?

Quote from @Devin James: Gross Margin is an important calculation for developers/builders.Gross Margin = Gross Profit / RevenueWe shoot for a 20% gross margin on our New Construction HomesReal #’s:Home Sales Price: $374KClosing Cost: $18,700Cost of Construction: $258KLand Cost: $30KGross Profit = $67K$67K/$374K = 17.9% Gross MarginCame slightly short of our goal of 20%Homes Values and Build Costs are constantly fluctuatingI wish we had a crystal ball build larger homes. average new build in our market is 2200 square feet, 4 beds, 3 baths, 2 car garage and sells for 515k. construction costs lower if design is good and find the median or average home sale price and push that up. my guess is you built too small. 347k is cheap. we target 429-479k price range in columbus ohio for single family homes and also only purchase close to urban core where premiums are 20% higher and we build smaller like 1500 sq ft where price per square foot goes up. 

We don't want to bring on every owner or every property unless they fit within our target market, so, I do the far majority of the sales - this is our check and balance.

New builds-broke even in the '08 market on two spec homes, built my own home from the ground up twelve years ago(400k in equity). 

If that is the case, just let them take it to market to sell.You could offer to manage the property and have them to rent it out now where you pay them a flat rate every month and anything you make over that amount is yours to keep.

Any recommendations for free tools to do market research?

Louis market.

Look for motivated sellers off market and market via cold calling and or direct mail, geofencing, advertising and the like.A good wholesaler is as @Ericka Parrott mentioned, direct to seller, did good underwriting and can deliver an actual "Deal" whether buy and hold or flip.