HOWEVER, I soon learned that prospective tenants are a dime a dozen.

If so, what size developments are you looking for 1-to-4, or something larger? 

I have a good idea of my requirements for approving applicants, which I was already going to give to a prospective PM.

It's a big world and depending on where your heirs are the prospects for real estate investment could exceed the tax bill of selling and expatriating the money from US investing.  

I like having fences at my rentals since it’s attractive to prospective tenants wanting privacy and, since I allow pets at my rentals, fencing is seen by tenants as a plus.

I have found these smaller, regional banks can be more open to development and investment backing than the bigger names.If you're looking for individual contact names/#'s, PM me and I can send you some.

So, lots of money (and Fremont has a lot) plus serious lack of new construction SFR plus still historically low interest rates mean something like this is a great deal for a developer, and actually not that risky a bet. 

After acquiring floor plans what is the next steps to getting it built?

As such ive looked at areas that have better cash flow and perhaps better growth prospects, such as Edmonton, for example. 

Plus, there's major development happening in the neighborhood and values are going up about 10k/month on the SFH.