I factored in property management at 10% as well as capital expenditures, maintenance, sewage, etc.Granted, I am aware that the tenants will likely cover their own utilities; plus I don't live in Vegas, so my estimates may be a lot more conservative than what the actual average amounts might be.

Funny enough I married in to a family that does R/E development. 

You need to factor in  loan fees and such as well. 

Then you'll need a development plan showing where the roads, utilities, and homes will be.

As a community i bet we would all crowdfund a project with a quick turnaround (3-6 months) in between our deals for a reasonable return (5-10% depending the experience of the developer)2.

He mentioned if it’s regular rental, about 2 months for eviction in nj, give more take some factors; while rent to own could be up to 6 months or more.

LA around the metro stops there are a lot of developments coming online, I can see multifamily in those areas getting into the oversupply territory.Where in LA are you looking?

Working as a property manager I have developed a passion to be my own boss.

It depends on a few factors. 

It depends on if IRS considers you an investor or trader. they look at different factors, I pulled court cases where they looked at these:(1) the taxpayer's investment intent; (2) the nature of the income to be derived from the activity; and (3) the frequency, extent, and regularity of the taxpayer's securities transactions (Kay; Mayer; and Moller)  A taxpayer is a securities trader only when both of the following are true: (1) the taxpayer's trading activity is substantial; and (2) the taxpayer seeks to profit from short-term swings in the daily market movement, rather than to profit from the long-term holding of investments.