Paid cash and keeping a large emergency fund to cover expenses, so we have very few worries about a wide-spread financial  problem.  

Others will use RLV, but in this post, you have the formula, so whatever method they use, you (or your broker) can do the math for yourselfSo, the general formula would beSales price of home - (minus)Build cost of home, including hard costs and permit fees -Profit (can range anywhere from 3% to 15% depending on what builder, larger/nationals will usually have lower profit margins that they make up with volume) - Finishing costs of lot (per costs above) =Residual land value (RLV) or raw land/raw lot costsNow a few questions/comments/rules of thumb to use:1.

Tucker, if you have someone in house that is licensed i'd encourage you to put it through the multiple listing service what is local to you, whether that is columbus or anywhere else. it feeds to all of those sites and should be no cost if you have someone licensed. we always put the units we lease on craigslist and between those two methods it's never taken more than 30 days. we take professional level photography with a camera we invested in.

Which method is the most cost and time effective?  

I know lenders do not usually approve this method of down payment however is there a way around this without committing mortgage fraud?

Robotic welding for example became widespread in the 1980's. 

I guess seller financing leaves me vulnerable to Dodd Frank rules where I would eventually need to find an RMLO.I am also looking at lease options as an alternative method to essentially owner finance the mobile homes to buyers.

FYI my current situation is:ME - FICO 665 middle score / $45k/yr income / $200/mo DEBTWIFE - FICO 650 score / $0 income / -$625/mo DEBTBROTHER - NO FICO - currently building / $30K income / $0 DEBTavailable max Down Payment $7,000PRO's Willing to purchase duplex / tri / fourplex in : riverside / rialto / pomona / ontario / san bernadino (no orange/red Crime map)price range : $180k - $450KREQUESTS: need atleast one unit to be 3 br *looking for value add* as well, After hearing the hundreds of first step methods, im finding it a bit hard to narrow down my search criteria. 2nd question is: After stating our current situation, what other strategies, loan programs or methods to begin our first Multi-Family buy and hold purchase would our current financial situation warrant reaping the most profit and least risk among this interest rising CA desert property market?

I was thinking about using the BRRR method on this. 

It generally will not go away with time unless we are talking decades and legal fees.Yes clearing up a title with a tax foreclosure is a way to do that but not the fastest or most reliable method.