Not a great deal per se, but the area is growing with some cool millenial-oriented developments.

It was bought before I really learned anything about REI, so we didn't "make money when we bought it" per se.

We may not have another bubble 'pop' per se, but it can't go on forever with 10-15% annual appreciation.

Now, for a beginner, my classic approach is to house hack because you get some hands-on experience with most facets of real estate investing without fully jumping in per se.

Developing the lots and selling them as an S-Corp will allow you to avoid some of the SE taxes as well.The amount you sell the land to the S-Corp will be the cost basis of the "inventory" (the lots).

In general, LLC does not save you taxes. fFr eg, there are some tax savings when you can shift the SE income from the business to a spouse who is a high earner, but rental income is not subject to SE tax anyway. 

However, there might be some tax benefit in your situation to treat this as a partnership (LLC tax as a partnership ).For instance, this treatment could reduce a married couple's SE tax bill when one spouse has wage income above the Social Security tax ceiling ($128,700 for 2018).

IMO your SE and NW (53222) will be your best.

This is a wholesale deal so there is no option period per se.

Russell mentioned Areas in SE DC where I know that businesses (and a big government facility) are moving into and had a gut feeling that this could be the next popular area in the city (the next Navy yard).