I could see this fit into several categories of 'real property trades or businesses.'

Having family with trades is a huge benefit, even if they don't do the work, utilize them as a resource. 1.

I have heard that it is common practice that private money lenders collect a monthly fee thru various methods, I'm trying to determine what those methods are.   

In construction your plans are your Bible, so you need to know how to locate any discrepencies, locate answers to questions froms trades, understanding "Take-offs" with your materials, and be able to visualize in a 3D space what the plans are describing.

My other background for 15 years now is in the trading world.

The BRRRR method?

@Christina Galdieri  A 1031 exchange is specifically designed for real property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.

Quote from @Tyler Garza: Quote from @Kishan Purohit: @Tyler GarzaEstimating ARV accurately is key to making the BRRRR method work.

But I don’t want to trade my time managing a business for a relatively small net income.The mistake many people make is comparing a real estate investment returns with a real estate business returns.  

@Jaren Taylor, not sure if this is why you talk about raising all cash, but given most deals are trading in the 5% cap rate range, and agency debt is 6.5% while balance sheet debt is closer to 7%, I whole heartedly agree that all cash is the ideal capital structure for many properties today, if your goal is to maximize overall returns for your investors.