I have a friend who is a real estate developer in Europe.  

I know both areas, can develop relationships with key team members in both, and can tell if a property is a good deal more easily.This isn’t the rule for all investors, but makes for a more solid foundation from which to begin.

Duke University owns many of the buildings on this street so it will always be well manicured and not overly developed (sprawling lawns etc). 

I have S-Corps and LLC's at the time for my other endeavors where it's required.Everybody's circumstances are unique, and often a setup with a separate management company works perfectly, in this case, for me, but probably not for you.

Account Closed Looks like my developing strategy is very similar to yours!

Starting a development project in a 3,660 sq. ft.

I don't usually do that but there was a flood that caved in a garage foundation wall during the due diligence period so definitely made sense under the circumstances. 

There is a lot less risk when you have had time to develop a relationship with the tenant.

But I've cleared enough poison ivy to develop a very bad reaction to it, and I am occasionally exposed to it as part of this life of running rentals.

. : )I find some developers build cheap boxes and backfill with crappy tenants and leases and then try to sell it off as a gem to an unsophisticated buyer.