You are the lucky seed that everyone claims to want to be.

The ultimate goal is to quit my job treating alfalfa seed for a large chemical company and focus on real estate full time. 

Would you rather use a ton of pesticide or use pest resistant seeds?

So yes we were all in with my parents on down payments about $400,000.00 seed money in those 3 years. 

It's really all there and has been forever, as far as we are concerned.The Bible teaches over and over about planting seeds, raising and harvesting, pulling weeds, taking the impure and burning it and all that remains is what is pure.

Things like: installing tile, carpet, hardwood, vinyl.You may also have stuff to do in the yard (grass seed, trimming trees, shoveling snow, etc) and that stuff kind of happens as needed. 

With building costs that low if you can purchase condemned or cheap land in densely populated areas your seed capital would be much lower than typical investing and you can get some new entrants in real estate investing and more scale starting out. 

I only have a small amount of seed capital available, what are some ways to ensure that the money isn't spent frivolously on business costs that really aren't necessary during the initial stages?

This experience planted the seed for many other investment properties.

Developing AI-based systems to solve society's problems requires a strong knowledge of human nature (liberal arts) and the capabilities of AI technology.When I was a kid growing up on a dairy farm, the visiting salesmen (farm machinery, crop seeds, and so forth) would ask my father that if I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up, would he send me to agriculture school.