With that amount of capital I would suggest either:A) look at larger single family packages (seeing that you can often get a deal when buying in bulk) hold the best of the rentals and flip the remaining properties for fresh cash to reinvest.B) consider a mid sized apartment complex (I have one in the area priced at 1.35mil that could be a great investment)

Since fresh in my mind, the last with Grant Kemp was interesting and insightful..

Most of all, how does a developer make money in the case of a ground-up fresh development project?

Garbage everywhere, dog piss ruined hardwood floor, fresh painted walls ruined with magic marker, etc.

Fresh coat of paint.

I don't remember the exact measurements but it simply consisted of baking soda, dish soap, and water.

For myself, after our first property I tossed out all of my original figures and started fresh with real world figures.

Fresh paint scratches pretty easily.

Depends, odds are if it's fresh, pricing will be toward the high end of the market since most know what market is. 

I'll take a fresh college grad over someone with mortgage experience.