You just have to be careful because some sales agents will just advise you to over improve the property because it makes their job easier.

Seems to me my options are...SELL - If I were to put it on the market I think I could reasonably get $2.8M - $3M, but at a 2.9M sale price my return on my initial investment is only 38%, or 7.6% a year over the 5 years.

Purchase price: $395,000 Cash invested: $100,000 Sale price: $570,000 Such a fun project!

This is a current sale going on in my area.

Best wishes on the sale!

Currently operating and cashflowing, listed for sale What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Agreement for Sale etc.

One other advantage is that many of the builders that I have worked with are able to incentivise the sale with interest rate buydowns that make the deal work.Best of luck moving forward. 

For example on your $400K sale it might look like: 20% down of $80,000, 65% LTV 1st of $260,000, and a 15% 2nd of $60,000.

If you are looking to do real estate sales as well you may want to find a brokerage that hires for both at the same time, and check their credibility.