We developed a friendship, and though I was still going through the legal issues surrounding my divorce at the time, I became aware that their children had little interest in the property, and I expressed interest in one day purchasing the property from them should they like to sell in the future. 

If you can buy up over time the lots around it and accumulate land then you might have a development play down the road when things build up around the area.

I was becoming mildly successful again, but I was not happy with dealing with the stresses of dummy business owners and guns put in my face for having to fire their employees due to excess staffing, so I quit my business and focused on teaching what I love which is video game development at a high school and college.

Will be looking for investors or property developers periodically and I hope I came to the right place to do so.

Develop a follow-up routine.

Your competition is fierce so you need to figure out in time what your core value proposition is and where you can add value to the market where others just aren't cutting it.Build Relationships, Build BusinessMy advice to all newcomers in the L.A. market is to focus first and foremost on networking and developing relationships.

I haven't developed a way to do development deals or fix and flips, unfortunately.

I would walk the property after the developer I worked for completed building them, put the ad in the paper, met with investors and sold the buildings.  

I am aware of the Freddie Mac Multifamily loans, and the USDA Rural Development loans.

I'm going to say that it depends what your goals are in seeking education.Cruising these forums, you'll see stories where people lost money because of what didn't know or didn't know to watch out for.At the same time, you'll find a pervasive and powerful bias against paid education.You'll want to decide for yourself which is the greatest expense: losing money on a deal (may or may not be deductible) or paying for education to help prevent losing money on your deals (deductible as a professional development expense).