its all great on the surface.. but where is the financing coming from for ground up ??? 

This is one of the problems with housing in lower tier markets because on the surface they appear to be great value but capex makes it impossible in many cases to keep them up and running and therefore the cash flow from your spread sheet rarely translates to reality.

I would clean it off wait acouple days and respray that surface.

Storm sewer, storm pond, sewer lines, water access, fire hydrants, public bathrooms, surface coverage, sidewalk or bike paths, setbacks, power lines and right of ways known and unknown, road access, etc. 5.

I have never taken his course, so can't speak to that, but on the surface of a couple Google searches, of the two he seems to actually be involved in real estate a lot more.  

Furthermore when you raise money from investors who don't have local knowledge of the market where the investments are made it only magnifies the problems that persist and allows some of these operators to extend the time period before the true troubles surface which only makes it worse for those who have invested.  

However, the main message I want to make here is that please do your proper due diligence, don't believe anything you read and you're told and scratch below the surface.

I'm actually really considering section 8 housing due to returns on the surface.  

Actually here in Texas we can separate the surface rights from the minerals. 

It’s easy to feel discouraged when the rewards aren’t immediate, but growth is happening beneath the surface.