So, I figured I'd make lemonade of swamp juice and turn the land into an RV Park.That was a joke.

This is one reason many listing brokers (or owners) like to use pro forma (speculation) to basically juice their numbers or make them look as shiny and great as possible.

This one was a royal pain in an attic that was barely high enough to crawl around in on my belly , so I'm sure the price would have even gotten higher if I had paid for the labor .

The juice simply isn't worth the squeeze for most investors, too much risk for too little reward when having to pay a middleman.P.S.

I'll bring a box of coffee to keep the creative juices fueled up for it !

Two, what if the economy goes belly up after you have bought the property and the rest of the development isn't finished?

Not your fault, but unfortunate.My first few were 10%-20% down like you are discussing, but all of mine have been belly to belly, no agents.  

On my own, belly to belly with principals.  

Took me this long to be able to sell the house and not go belly up, so I guess that makes me a survivor of ignorance.I want to avoid making another mistake, cause I'm not getting any younger (39yr old). 

Thank you@David Bell!  I