I agree that this "accounting technique" is very distorting (and artificially boosts the return versus a sponsor that's isn't doing this).And most sponsors don't do this...but enough do that I always dig into the pro forma to look (and then take it into account when doing comparisons).

Now to answer your specific question, the value of the approved (shovel ready unit/lot) is the price that can be supported by the product and project you got entitled AND meets with the developer's (your buyer's) pro forma financial performance.

He great form as well and great as a personal managing tool.

Tax returns, balance sheet, pro forma on each property.  

By teaming up with other investors to form a syndications, we were all able to fast track to investments that were truly passive.If you are concerned about being overwhelmed with the scalability of single family rentals or would like to achieve similar returns in a more passive way, I highly recommend the Multifamily route.

@Daniel Thomas, I would advise you to be very cautious with your pro forma rental rates and your vacancy percentage projections. 

Also, are these pro-forma?

The less the "other" partners spend on the fix up, maybe the better their ROI, which may be contradictory to your return... all the fine details to be ironed out in pro forma/budget.

I have seen where you discount the 50% rule of thumb as misleading but can you share the actual economics and pro forma projections of the deals you are buying?  

Should we form a new LLC that purchases the homes and retains all of the profits while only reimbursing his GC company for actual costs incurred?