However, I do not know who this could be beyond a property manager which would not work in my case since I am looking to self manage for both tax (material participation in STR loophole) and profitability reasons. 

Unfortunately with those numbers it's tough to find a non-bank lender/financial institution that will lend.Usually loan minimums are $50K and the up to 75% LTV on purchase-money/70% LTV on cash-out refinancing, which basically means you need up 25-30% depending on the type of financing. 

Hard Money Loans are generally speaking institutional money so they make the rules and you either like it and take it, or move on to another lender.

Participants are continuously told “we’ll cover all these details so you can do this too in just a moment”, the moment never arrives. 

Are there any institutions or other loan products that offer 3.5% down (potentially can go up to 10% depending on the total construction costs) AND takes into account the rental income?

We create a new joint LLC for each investment, and each participant gets listed as an owner of the joint LLC. 

Deposits from the tenant.Security deposits from the tenant in residential dwelling units shall be deposited in a trust account with a licensed and federally insured depository institution lawfully doing business in this State or the landlord may, at his option, furnish a bond from an insurance company licensed to do business in North Carolina.

His recommendation was to not participate in subject to as an agent.

Greatly increased lending capital by transitioning from a ‘blind pool” fund to a series LLC / syndication model where investors know the property lending deal before committing to any loan and can “pick and choose” whichever loans they do or do not want to participate in.  

(so I hope).I have a whole lot more info regarding my interactions with these institutions and how I've dealt with them if you're interested?