That's a standard approach for many county roads, and is well-known for lower cost and durability.As long as you are trying to improve the roads, don't forget to install paved "parking pads" -- typically 20' x 20' squares to park two cars on each lot.

In my experience flippers make the quality of a city improve, but like @Greg H. said, there is the "you aren't from around here" factor at play.

If you purchased a property, significantly rehabbed the property and immediately sold it thereafter with the intent of flipping it, it will be subject to self-employment taxes.Regarding the taxes you will be subject toFederal TaxesState taxesDepending if it was a flip or not, also self-employment taxes.Speak with your accountant on the actual taxes that will be due as he/she will know what your marginal tax rates are.You can also factor in improvements / selling costs to decrease your gain / taxes.

How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale CarnegieIf you read and apply the lessons of this book your networking & communication skills in improve significantly.Example: I met one of my best clients years ago and we were recently talking about the day we met.

We immediately did a cosmetic rehab on the property and over the years have made cosmetic improvements.

This is where you can begin to see where there are operational inefficiencies, cost overruns, or areas where income can be improved.

There were a lot of operational improvements that we were able to make right away.

We can fit it in the budget, the numbers still work well, but I'm don't know how impactful it'd be to potential renters and dont want to over improve or waste $12k! 

There were a lot of operational improvements that we were able to make right away.

That said, if your return expectations are out of sync with the current market you wouldn't expect many deals to be accepted.If you don't think your offer price isn't going to work, look for other ways to improve the deal (alternate financing, new income streams, etc) to see if you can bridge the gap between his asking price and your needed returns.