Yes, with this comes more risk, but also more reward and ability to scale faster.

I understand it is inherently riskier to develop raw land, but I learned that the reward is significantly lower lot cost and higher margins. 

When you tell these people that it often takes more than a decade before the investing makes things like that possible, they go looking elsewhere for advice, until they find someone who's willing to sell them what they want to hear.Building relationships, improving your lifestyle, relieving chronic anxiety, creating strong friendships, building bonds with family, work-life balance, delayed gratification, risk-reward management, lifelong financial freedom, all the really good things about REI are often suffocated under the overwhelming need to GENERATE INCOME TO QUIT MY HATEFUL JOB.What's the best thing about investing for me?

What's your take on the risk vs. reward of flipping in the current market compared to other strategies?

I do have some of it invested in tax liens (paying up to 12% tax free interest) that I hope to turn into a couple cheaply acquired rental properties.When I reach 59.5 I will have the option of pulling out 5k to 10k every month of tax free rental income or letting it build up more as there are no RMD's on a ROTH.This is just one of many sources of money for me in retirement.John in your scenario it works like a charm  look at the dollars ( relatively small risks per property) . 

In today's market, with low foreclosure discount compared to past buyer's markets and a lot of "motivated buyers", the risk/reward ratio keeps me far away from the courthouse steps. 

With their charm, persuasive abilities, and apparent success, they gained the trust of numerous investors.

There is in an increased risk and less reward now. 

They could get a risk free return by investing in T-bills, so the delta between that RFR and what you're offering needs to be rewarding enough for them to pursue it.As for the 2nd part of your question, that really is a mystery :)The low interest rate environment always leads to these folks misleading people and mismatching deal operations, and sometimes even defaulting on the property and losing it altogether.Probably because a bunch of these syndicators want to be cool Instagram/TikTok influencers and throw up their arms and talk about how many doors they own, but what do I know lol. 

-Often a persons last years are in assisted living, a nursing home, or with their children, so I could take possession of the home (and generate profit from it) sooner than the persons death.Potential risk that I can think of:-Higher out-of-pocket costs/negative initial cash flow with delayed financial reward.