I know these are extremes but those of us that have been in the business for some time all have our own stories to tell.Best of luck 

Then I started working with a realtor to view properties and made offers.

Based on my calculations and preliminary research, I have found that the Bay Area offers good returns from developing land, although acquiring level land and obtaining permits can be challenging.I have a few questions:1) Is it recommended to purchase a complete house plan from online sources like ePlans or similar websites and then customize the architectural design before submitting it to the municipality?

We're thinking we'll need a buyer's agent, a lawyer in Tampa, and a inspector to do pre-inspections before we ever decide to put in an offer.

This might be a workable scenario for me.Lack of experience would not kill this deal for us but it would depend on a few things.Usually the biggest challenge for newer investors is in the amount of equity you have available to infuse into the project.You need to have a cash down payment to secure financing.With 25% Down you would be in a multiple financing offer situation where we're just fighting to get best deal possible and batting off Wholesale Account Execs left and right.

Because of my brutal impatience we just had an offer accepted for a 5 unit building with 2 store fronts and 3 apartments that all need to be gutted and renovated.

Please do post any other experiences with them, positive or negative, as they are extremely helpful.

Or if you go to sell it and you don't get what you wanted for it, you could always hold it to make the annual return you were projecting.You should run sales comps to determine if that value is $100k or not, but if you can offer at a price where you can hold it or flip it once done, you will be in a good spot

I'm not trying to be the forum police here but it's annoying to see somebody consistently offering bad advice on posts.

@Timothy Rogers I just read all of your advice and you made things extremely clear.