There are a couple of up and coming neighborhoods I have been scouting that I am about to pull the trigger on. 

You're obviously from the area and can give me an idea I can't google or get from reading neighborhood scout.

Sounds like you made great decisions up and down the real estate continuum-- from scouting deals / to recognizing potential / to sourcing crew /  to holding them accountable and firing them / to finding a new crew / to overall project management / to terrific design, fit, and finish / and to the final sale of course.

The duplex has yet to be found, I have an agent friend scouting the area for me already though.

Typically, a bird dog (property scout) is paid a service fee in good faith that the investor will do what he said he would do once the deal is closed.

(he's got his own girl scout troop as well!)

As for finding an architect and builder, I'd say scout the city for building you like, speak to the owners to see if they are happy with the construction, and get recommendations.

@Derek Luttrell - I suggest searching the address in neighborhood scout - this is from a part of the neighborhood but the site breaks it down in smaller block areasThe current real estate vacancy rate here is 23.5%.

Here are a couple of things to consider that tend to involve less money up front:#1 Find Deals- Scout Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin.

I can see places like farmers markets and even the Girl Scouts using this where normally they could only accept cash or checks but for the average joe nah.Unless you have a reputable business this device would be useless as people would freak if they saw someone slide their credit card on their iphone lol.