I believe a lot of other people are asking themselves the same question right now and are sitting on the sidelines.

However, after doing my research and talking with a few people, I've been feeling SUPER overwhelmed.

Haha this is why this situation is so confusing - many people with differing interpretations!

I assumed these people were great.

I'm torn because people say "don't sell... houses are going to keep going up".

It also help comfort people.

But I don't want to waste other people's time and would definitely feel a lot more confident overall if I knew that the money was there. 

Looking at this kitchen (Rehab/Flip deal), I know how to price out work and deal with subs but how are people coming up with how to redesign the layout?

Yes development can have huge upside but I have also seen people lose $20M in a development deal gone bad. 

You seem pumped up to do this, but do it first at a local meetup (in terms of connecting with people) or else you are just going to get a bunch of people trying to sell you services or on how good they are.