And preparing a building site and installing a driveway are further considerations if I even decide to build something there.

And if they are a hobbyist/part-time builder, then they should engage the proper professionals, i.e. a title officer, civil engineer, architect, contractor et al to assist in reviewing the project's feasibility.

. - Won't work unless you REALLY know a market and have the proper connections!

One way to get tax benefits while you're living there could be installing solar panels or upgrading the energy efficiency of the home. 

This is just the start of a larger decline in a company raising money from investors without proper SEC fillings that is starting to not pay investors back.

Does it make sense to cheap out over the few thousand dollars it will cost to go through a proper escrow and title process?

I am interested in hearing about your experience traversing the 'green standards' new construction and permitting process in KCMO proper.

Because the existing house was too low the developer followed the rough location of the old sewer line and installed a new sewer line to connect to the existing house. 

If an asset is throwing off a certain yield that is not commiserate with it's risk, then investors will then begin paying more for that asset, thus decreasing it's yield....or start paying less for the asset which would increase it's yield, until it was at the proper risk/return rate to produce the yield that is truly reflective of it's risk.The problem is novice real estate investors get the risk/reward correlation backwards.

Or they could never get to the latter, because they never had the beginning characteristics which include the former to develop properly.