@Step SthephYou may also want to think about holding onto the property that you live in in your own name for now.You are eligible to exclude up to 250,000(500,000 if married filing jointly) as long as you lived and owned the property for 2 out of 5 years.If you transfer the title to an LLC - you may lose out on the appreciation as you continue to live in it.You have a couple options regarding the other lots.If you don't know contacts or how to develop land - you may want to consider the land outright.If you have experience to develop land - you may want to pursue developing the land and then selling it.option 2 will likely generate more money but also require more work.

Scaling my portfolio overtime with profit generated and my w2 job.I never considered using  the earnings from the home towards stock to pay if off later.

Is there a way to insure that the original owner will not pocket the monthly payment I make leading to foreclosure of the property?

I wish I was able to make it to a meet up lead by @Darren Sager; he definitley was one of my favorite podcast guests. 

My "Why" is because I want to continue to be an active mom in my children's lives (more specifically...not to miss school events, milestones, and just spending time with them), to be able to leave something behind for them (and future generations) that they can build on/take over if they want, and to continue to fulfill my wanderlust as much as possible.       

This may not seem like "income producing" activity at the moment, but it's critical for putting yourself in a position to generate revenue.2) Get to know the buyers in your area. 

I have one advice for you: if you have some capital to deploy in marketing activities to get leads and the patience to wait for over a year or even two to make money, then wholesale. 

Using the wholesaling strategy, we are getting solid leads on available houses consistently.

I strongly recommend you don't partner with your builder, as that can lead to more issues than you can imagine.  

Over time real estate can lead to great wealth.