Without complicating it too much, I would aggressively pay off the credit cards.

Ahh, let's not complicate things, they say. 

There will be no taxes (it's more complicated, actually, there could be some taxes), but you also cannot pull out the profits.

As far as permits go what about them would you say is the most complicated? 

I might just be making a complicated way to bird-dog.

That may complicate the deal.

So, we are leaning towards buying the property via two LLCs, although I'm a little concerned that this will make things (like obtaining loans) more complicated for us in the future.

This might sounds complicated but your attorney (probate or family planning  better) or a financial advisor can advise better on this because it varies between states.

When you rent out your primary residence, your taxes become "complicated." 

As a data point for you, I underwrote and negotiated a 5 home subdivision in San Marcos last year (that I didn't end up moving forward with because of utility complications) that had a $800k land cost.The problem in this case is the land cost is too high for scraping and building.