Anyways, Home Possible conventional 5% down payment program is a fantastic one to use, you just have to find a multifamily that is in a low income tract so there isn't a restriction on how much income you make. 

The lawn is roughly the size of a postage stamp and I will need to shovel the sidewalk myself in the winter.The tony townhouse is 1970's tract-built garbage.

We've never had any problem getting financing for buyers or our land or getting financing to buy a large tract. 

I use to sell for a new home tract build and it is a PAIN to sell something that backs up to, not necessarily a busy street, but even a "busier" street.

Mold exposure generally doesn't kill, but will make people sick...In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated conditionLead exposure generally doesn't kill either, it just causes brain damage and other fun things to happen...The signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children may include: Developmental delayLearning difficultiesIrritabilityLoss of appetiteWeight lossSluggishness and fatigueAbdominal painVomitingConstipationHearing lossBabies who are exposed to lead before birth may experience: Learning difficultiesSlowed growthAlthough children are primarily at risk, lead poisoning is also dangerous for adults.

I think your best apporach will be using the income and cost approach since comps are not there for a market approach.Actually the past land sales are valid but should be adjusted for the size of the land sale, smaller areas that are legal building sites sell more per acre or sq. ft. than do tracts.

I build new homes and sell them so I have a definite bias.my point is in some building tracts if the builder is doing a new build program for investors. you put up 20 or 30 rentals in a short period of time you saturate the rental market and that can drive DOWN rents.. or in this case maybe the rent was never real..and the OP just went with what he was told.. but bottom line this is simply the landlord business at its base level.. and has zero to do with Turnkey being the problem.

Raw land 'could be potentially good', also, if in an area that is growing fast, has easy access to the interstate- to buy and hold and sell to farmers maybe (maybe at first, while the area is 'growing up around it) or eventually to builders- but you'd have a lot of due diligence to do before buying, then you have to determine the highest and best use for the property in the end- before buying, paying for and performing perc tests every 12 feet or so, determining if the area can be serviced by city water and sewer or if the tracts would have to have well and septic permits pulled for each lot, etc.- you may lose some acreage if you find unsuitable soil or creeks or wetlands, so land can be a risky investment.

One large tract is currently being developed into SF and MF housing and selling quickly. 

That's too small a tract for hunting, and it's not on a lake or river for fishing.