Hi Tajinder,You are correct that there is a lot of competition, however it also depends what you are looking for and your budget.

The carrying costs on a larger property will be significant depending on where you buy.

Once the values get to a point where you would want to borrow against the policy, these loans are at either 2% or 0% depending on how long you've owned the policy.  

@Mike HwangThe following general guidelines and things to think about will help you look into joint ventures and get hard money loans for investments in commercial real estate:Securing Hard Money Loans: Flexible Approval Criteria, Local Real Estate Forums, Real Estate Associations, Lender Relationships, Online Research, and Consultation with Experienced Real Estate Agents and BrokersInvestigating Joint Venture Financing: Make Connections and Develop Networks, Acquire knowledge, recognise complementary skills, determine project suitability, draft joint venture agreements, find dependable partners, seek professional advice, and make use of regional real estate groups and networks.Recall that thorough research is essential when evaluating joint venture partners as well as hard money lenders.

Their performance for us varies depending on the property however. 

Just depends on your needs and goals.

There is risk involved on the construction side depending on the size of the project you take on, but it can be done. 

if we could all go on Zillow and push Internet buttons we'd do that.

It's hard to beat a match for the 401k, but depending on your situation ROTH 401k's are great opportunities. 

Or it might not make sense - depends on how much you can walk away with and use towards your other goals.