Omar - don't forget the political aspects of real estate.In respect to development (or re-development), we can only imagine how the economics of a new tract built in a tough area may have played out.Politician needs to repay a favor to a supporter, who just happens to be a developer.Developer sees an opportunity to (maybe) change a negative economic trend in that community.Developer builds one less profitable project so that a much more profitable one can be approved in another community.Bank offers low, subsidized financing due to local or national programs that exist at the time.Just because it doesn't (or didn't) make sense, doesn't mean it was unprofitable.

I would need to see contracts for both sides of the deal in order to fully digest the process.

Rather than prospecting for books I'm interested in reading/listening to the whole book though, I'm more looking for something that is a "cliff notes" of each book, so I can digest just the most pertinent points more quickly..Charles M. , I've done some searches, read some blogs, and know a bit..

I have also considered (tentatively) pooling money with certain family members and a close friend (who has expressed interest) in order to make the math more digestible.

Here would be a couple of initial steps I would consider taking:1) Digest and read as much as you can on Bigger Pockets (and books) until you have enough information to determine what type of investing you wish to do.  

Owning land has always been some what of a fixation in my life, and it lines up with all of my biggest passions and excitements in life which I think is an important criteria for a good investment.With the recession on the way out and rural land at a 10 year low right now, my thoughts have been consumed lately on how I could possibly buy or put a deal in place to buy a large tract in the near future.

As always the speculative tract builders in the outlying areas will likely feel the hit first. 

I'm in the acquisition process of a few tracts of land varying from 300 to 500 acres each to complete entitlement and sell to local builders.

Once you cross into this world, your costs of raising capital go up significantly.Another downside with having "money partners" take equity in a holding company is that they become owners of all assets of the company (and inherit all liabilities).You could accomplish your objectives by simply forming a joint venture with an individual money partner on a per-property basis.If you have not done so, give Steven Cohen and George Dubé's "Legal, Tax and Accounting Strategies for the Canadian Real Estate Investor" a read - it's and easily digestible primer on the subject.  

Because, again, I think it is based on the exact same data we digest on a daily or weekly basis.