Despite my long time love of REI, I am still relatively "green", having only held 1 property over ten years.  

I'm green here do bare with me.

All money is green, my friend!

Kevin Greene how much experience does this borrower have?

I also just discovered that someone wrote a book on this exact subject back in 2006: "Green Wealth: How to Turn Unusable Land Into Moneymaking Assets" My business partner has been reading it and says that it's filled with great information on "how-to," which is always better than reinventing the wheel, as we've been doing.

In a few months we will have another green light and will be off to start again! 

I am really looking for the simplest path here, as I am still a bit green. 

They instead have built up soil around the porch, and plant some greens around it to make it look "homey."

Hi @William Green, Welcome to the community.

Then if it is a green light, get OPM (other peoples money), a partner on the deal, Hard Money Lender, a HELOC loan if it applies to you, use your 401K or IRA if it is self-directed.