Because the existing house was too low the developer followed the rough location of the old sewer line and installed a new sewer line to connect to the existing house. 

And preparing a building site and installing a driveway are further considerations if I even decide to build something there.

One way to get tax benefits while you're living there could be installing solar panels or upgrading the energy efficiency of the home. 

Just keep the amount within any local rules and give proper notice.

But ultimately, any cost to the syndicator is ultimately a cost to the deal, which means that at the end of the day it costs the investor.Investors that can find quality sponsors, and do proper due diligence on them, can save an entire layer of cost by investing directly with those carefully selected sponsors versus investing through crowdfunding portals.Good luck!

And if they are a hobbyist/part-time builder, then they should engage the proper professionals, i.e. a title officer, civil engineer, architect, contractor et al to assist in reviewing the project's feasibility.

Does it make sense to cheap out over the few thousand dollars it will cost to go through a proper escrow and title process?

I am interested in hearing about your experience traversing the 'green standards' new construction and permitting process in KCMO proper.

This is just the start of a larger decline in a company raising money from investors without proper SEC fillings that is starting to not pay investors back.

Or they could never get to the latter, because they never had the beginning characteristics which include the former to develop properly.