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.

I am taking cues from How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. 

I have a tough time using mutual fund returns as a comparison because they can be incredibly variable & I have no influence over the value or income.

A realtor should be able to influence people

I often have clients who ask me about off market deals, and I sometimes have deals that work out well through my sphere of influence.