He made a lot of money and the developer is the “hated” villain but my initial protege knew what the land was going to be used for.  

Pricing higher than a bank ( if you can actually get a bank to lend you money in the first place)2.

We have a high saturation of rentals that has caused the market to lose money. 

Probably going to be a check.Smart contractors are starting to understand that convenience matters to customers and being able to take different methods of payment can help them collect their money.

As much as prices have increased, comparatively you still get A LOT for the money.

Quote from @Burke Atkerson: With over a decade of real estate investing experience and over 100 flips, I now provide private money & hard money loans.

You won’t make your money back.

In the Bigger Pockets free book, "Real Estate Rewind", as one of the 11 co-authors I wrote about one such Tax Sale purchase and made money but not enough money to warrant the risk involved.

@Jeanette Land why don't you canvas your network to find a money partner?

refinance our own home with some money down + purchase another flip?