While both involve finding and properly securing a site and bringing it to full entitlement, the ground-up process includes the land piece but gets way more involved and complex to execute.The full "Monty" for ground-up development needs to include financial literacy, an explanation of metrics, and how they work.

If I have a JV with other investors and we need to pursue legal actions, I always involve the other investors when interviewing attorneys.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

Jim's bleating about government being involved.

I've never done one personally but my understanding is it involves the home being put into a trust, with the sub2 purchaser buying the trust from you.

In the case of GEG, we let our members know we did not have a track record with them - they were new to us and just being tested - and therefore it was even more important to perform thorough due diligence since we can't be involved in the transaction. 

Since your parents seem open to your involvement, I would start start small. 

I’d love to connect with investors who are experienced in flipping, renting, or managing properties—especially those in or close to the New Jersey area.If you’re involved in property management, real estate investing, or anything related, I would appreciate any advice or mentorship you can offer.

They unleashed pandemic handouts and loan programs that greased the economy (this was not well thought out, contributed to the inflationary environment we are still suffering from and PPP and ERP loans were flooded with fraudulent loans and benefits)These programs leveraged existing corporate infrastructure (banks and the government had little or no operational involvement). 

And having a property manager does not mean that you’re not directly involved with a lot of issues with your properties.Given your situation I might rather suggest a REIT investment where you get exposure to the category, but not have to deal with such a large portfolio, or just get your feet wet and see if you like being a landlord by buying a couple of properties  Randy