I agree with you about wanting to help people first, like Earl Nightingale said: “your rewards in life are in direct proportion to the service you render” and the money may not all come from those you serve.

He would then charge the homeowner for services rendered or whatever and be on his way.

I think a small monthly fee and standard 20% mark up on services rendered would be reasonable if this was the road that you went down.  

A good compromise may be to get renderings of what it could look like.

Signage on property, does it have renderings?

Thanks for your assistance.Lavaud,I'll be the odd one out in this thread and suggest a Windows laptop, they tend to be cheaper and, because I build computers, I like the freedom/ability of being able to shop around / customize it to my specific liking.With that, it really depends on what you'll be doing with the laptop, ie: basic email, MS office, BP or video rendering / editing for your listings-walk through, future rehabs etc ?

I have considered designing all 9 or 10 homes and "pre-selling" based off the renderings and floor plans I design, to at least sell a couple to prove the idea before we break ground.I want to work directly with private investors, not traditional financial institutions.

The architect will create colored site plans and some renderings of what the buildings may look like. 

In many cases zoning has changed over time so that the property line setbacks and minimum lot sizes are much larger, which could render your lot useless for new construction. 

The money is not technically revenue until the service has been rendered completely.