Is it a sequence of pre-scripted postcards, emails, etc? 

That way you should be getting an apples to apples comparison.   

As a comparison with how crazy it is, there is a lot near Gandy and West Shore asking $700K and  they are tearing down perfectly beautiful houses on Davis Island for $650K to build $1.5million + dollar homes.

I'm wondering what the value comparison is for this 3 unit multifamily is...Say we have 2 building for sale that are identical. both are 3 story (1 unit on each floor) buildingsBuilding A is just a multifamily building sold together as an apartment (for rentals)Building B is comprised of three separately taxed and parceled units.

When building new, it is possible to design and build houses, and larger buildings, with a modest increase in up-front capital (10 - 15%) costs in comparison to the "normal/typical" minimum code build, which have resulting energy consumption 70%+ lower.  

Assuming apples to apples comparisons, I am only considering the interest rate they offer, is this a mistake?

For actual investment comparison one might check when they invested outside of Cali and put that up against the difference if they invested in Cali.

Both scenarios for comparison sake, would be about 100k out of pocket, for either the 4 down payments or the 1 down payment on the house.

Your question is to elaborate on the comparison of real estate to 529 Plans. 

@Miho Y.If this is for a conventional loan the all the lender cares about is the sales comparison.