Developing acreage for duplex new construction in East Texas

[Joe Ferguson]

I am in the beginning stages of planning out developing a 5.5 acre tract I just purchased for building new construction duplexes and was hoping I could get some good advice. A little background on the area: it is in a smaller East Texas town that has a great school district that attracts a lot of families. It is in a neighborhood type atmosphere that has road frontage on two sides and I am thinking 8-10 2-3 bedroom higher end duplexes. The land is deep so it will leave a lot of vacant land behind the units so I am considering dog park, playground, walking trail Etc for attraction. My first question is what info do I need to gather and where can I collect the info on making sure it's a smart investment. It has rural water and they are not allowing any new connections to sewer so what are my septic options? If I do aerobic system it will require approximately .6 acres per unit for sprinkling area which will in turn limit my duplexes to a max of 8 and cost about $6k per unit. 2 or 3 bedrooms and with or without garages: how to determine. We do not get snow but a lot of the new units in the area are going to higher amenities which includes 1 car garage, granite , etc. Vinyl flooring or tile? Best way to finance and what a good note would look like. Any and all feedback would be appreciated!