When we initially inquired about what other contractors margins and average labor costs were.. the conversation did seem to drift or focus on comments about which contractor would or would not work on a labor only basis which wasn't quite the question.Its not if we are thinking about having the contractor source for materials -- its not an option.

For the land, which we figure will be in the $300,000 - $400,000 area, we're floating the idea of having a friend finance the land and lease it to us, with the right to purchase the land within a certain amount of time.

Plus I  would hate to take over a property where I would be floating the property out of my pocket until it could get leased up. 

You will want to make sure the title is handled correctly to remove both husband and wife and also make sure the chain of title is clear and has no "floating" judgments.  

I have this idea floating around to build an extension on the property or a separate ADU and finance it myself prior to refinancing, but that might be a bold move this early on in my REI career. 

If you go that route then a consideration would be selling to them but they give you a floating closing date so you can have more time to search for your replacement property. 

It's fairly easy to install (floating application) and requires little maintenance. 

The 1031 floats the down payment. 

Part of the reason that some rent payment services "float" the payment is to make sure it clears.

The question of CF vs Appreciation has been floating around since the beginning of time.