It takes time to develop trust and credibility with potential investors, so don't wait until the last minute.

Try some broken record techniques repeating, rephrasing, etc. 

How many units are generally in a townhome development?

Because this property is located in midtown historic district of Sacramento, we feel there may be market for both MTR and STR, but first thing is we will target LTR and let 3 or 4 units filled in.When we first start developing this apartment from ground up, it was intended to flip and move on to the next project, with timing and interest rate etc.. we deiced to keep it as a cash cow for a while and see how things go.  

There is strong macroeconomics because of the growing population, job market, and the major companies moving and developing here.

More like  2X to 5X the cash out.. these are done with builder developers on their deals So put out 300k get 300k back in profit plus the interest rate. most small builders/ developers need to have a equity partner so you just do both you lend the money and are the equity partner.. pretty clean..

For a more general philosophy on hospitality, especially if you are going into the higher end STR space I would recommend Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp about the founding and development of the Four Seasons brand. 

(FYI - this was an SB9 "two unit development, not an SB9 lot split). 

Tons of growth coming all over town with new developments constantly, plus the weather is great 9 months out of the year!

Turns out the developer didn't fix some underground pipe and it took years and lots of $$ for lawyer's fees to get things fixed.