Completely agree and wouldn't normally purchase a rental in these markets personally.  

I do not know how they are handling new customers verse the Midland existing customers.Regarding the customer service it seems the people I dealt with are still employed and only my "personal rep" as it were, was promoted and another took her place.

Melanie, as much as I understand where you're at with this, I would have to disagree based on personal experience.

Then I have still have to pay the person who was acting as a host even though no one came. 

What we found was only one other person contracted under $200 per square foot for clients and they also built within the city of columbus. the numbers have a much higher premium the closer you get to downtown. if you can't get the numbers to work my recommendation would be to get closer to downtown. we do build to rent development and single family home development and every line item is broken out. on the triples we have to build exterior staircases etc there are some things you can't really understand unless you build a lot. hope that helps but no one is going to build you for 110 a square foot. the lowest cost homes in our market at cost without a profit barely dip into 140 a square and we are in one of the cheapest construction markets and states in the country. 

Personally, I don't see tech company being able to handle the complexities of property management. 

If you are a person who has a full time job, or runs other companies, it is my professional opinion that you will be better served having the GC handle everything and report to you on your schedule.Once you decided to run the operation yourself, you are now employed by the development.

My number one piece of advice is finding a group that you can attend online or in person to keep you motivated and accountable to your goals. 

I'm looking to identify a builder with the following characteristics:1) Eager to grow his/her company and reputation in the market2) Has produced at least five high quality builds in Arizona which are at least 4K sq ft  3) Has proven track record of completing builds in a timely manner4) Personal capital to allocate to projects (optional, but ideal)Please reach out to me if you or someone you know might fit these criteria. are you set that you want luxury?

How you develop negotiating skills and how you apply these is totally dependent on your comfort zone, your personality, your time allotment, etc.