He bought it in a new development and appreciation has been kind to him.

The first thing I do is identify a market (zip code) and neighborhood to target.  

They used an architect to help develop the custom home, then sub-contracted the work over 9-12 months.Neither of us are contractors but we're very excited about real estate and are here to learn. 

I'll ask my developers about this and let you know.

Once you have identified your market, start searching for syndicators in that market and reach out to them.

I know on some developments they are making people abandon existing drive cuts.

There are many possibilities, it's all about what opportunities you identify and believe will be in your best interest and only you can make that choice.

Development on either side of the neighborhood has gone berzerk.

If you decide to do it, it would be wise to obtain a valuation by a third party or if that proves to costly develop your own comparables to justify your allocation.

@Wai FungI can help with development projects, particularly development of SHF projects and multi-family units.