[kensmith]

I think that there are benefits to doing both. Large sites are easier to rank in the long run IMO. At the same time there are only so many hours in the day.

Your idea of taking the large developments and having good content about them might be the best way to go. More important might be to find ways to automate some of this. Can you get the associations to give you some content? Maybe a local Chamber? Local businesses?

One idea I had was to try and get a local high school student to do some writing for me. They would be very cheap and be able to create a nice portfolio for their college application. One the same line you could get one to take photos also. Our High School has a work program that the student can get credit hours so this shouldn't be to hard to get someone interested.

On the topic of small sites, I think that they can be used to help target niche markets. Charles you could do a site for only high rise condos. That type of buyer might want to see someone who specializes in that market. Same goes for golf course homes, gated communities, high end homes, and so forth. Heck even a site just for one community like Summerlin (it's huge for those that don't know Vegas) would be enough to be worth the ROI.

There are a lot of ways to use small and large sites to your advantage. As surfers get more experienced they will start looking for more targeted searches plus look for experts and niche sites are a great way to be the expert.