I am currently in operations for a large corporate investment bank, which pays the bills, but I am looking to build wealth using real estate.

You wont fail.

The thought came to me because people pay a premium for new construction but then each year systems get older, so you are really banking on the value of the land.Thanks!

They pay my labor when product fails.

Focus on finding solutions: Short Sales/Foreclosures: Help distressed sellers avoid foreclosure by arranging short sales or negotiating with banks.

In other words, Ogden failed to ride the gentrification wave that buoyed the REI landscape everywhere around it. 

For example, last year a friend of mine was able to secure a line of credit through a regional bank in Phoenix..

They own a note secured by the property.I think you are convoluting equity investors and the typical terms and structures provided to equity investors and private lenders.Think of your "investors" as the bank.  

Plus, that W2 income is what is going to keep banks comfortable loaning you money to keep growing.  

Just yesterday I talked with a gentleman that was wanting to sell me a six month training going over two lessons a month in buying  apartments.The cost was basically 3k or $250 a session which would not and should not break the bank.