Finally, it's essential to stay informed about changes in tax laws and regulations that may impact real estate investments, as these can have a substantial influence on overall financial planning and investment decisions. 

I can honestly say I do not own any real estate books...however, I own and have read many books that I consider helpful to my investing and business practices:1) How to Win Friends and Influence People2) The Millionaire MindVarious macro economics books (which I have been recently reading), various investing books such as "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham.

So, what the money is coming out of will influence where it can go.

Get word out to your Sphere of Influence(SOI) that you have your license via letters, text messages, social media, etc.Start working on activities that generate leads, you don't need a ton of lead sources, find 4 that works for you and master them.

The first step the brokerage I work for had me do was to send a letter to my "Circle of Influence".

The other thing si if that subdivision had some influence, couldnt they get the city to condemn the road via eminent domain?

Personally I would find out what he charges if you don't do that so you have both options on the table for yourself and decide ahead of time what you want to do, the benefit of this is the contractor has a mutual benefit in making the flip/builds successful, the downside is they control all costs and can influence potential profit in their favor if they want and you hold all of the risk if it fails.Only advice is just to define EVERYTHING on the front end to prevent issues later on.

I'd watch out for liability in dealing with all investors, particularly ones who are elderly, unsophisticated, (or may appear to be) otherwise under undue influence from someone or something else, etc.

LOL, if you don't have a calculator to use in RE deals and you only look for deals as obvious as Rob's car example,you won't be making much money or be around long.While you may understand the terms, you need to study the basics and understand the comparable property valuation process, you don't need to be an appraiser and add values for a fireplace, but understand the valuation of the overall market, neighborhood influences, location, how a school influences price and conditions.

As I'm sure you're aware, there have been general market conditions that have swung prices up, down, then back up in that same period that may be influencing my answer.