You can ask the Qualified Intermediary directly when they refer you to someone whether they are getting paid for the referral or merely referring you in order to help you.  

Would it be better to start with SFHs or dive directly into multifamily?

I'm hoping to hear some creative ways people are handling this part of the process.

You want to be working directly with the handyman, not the "GC" who is delegating and not doing any of the work.

I have had luck with doing direct mail marketing for some of my past clients that wanted a certain area or neighborhood, you'd be surprised at how many sellers don't want to deal with showings and everything else that goes into listing a home. 

Denver Creative Housing, Denver Sublets, Roomies, Roommates, and so on, there are a few good ones)Also, I use Roomies as well because it is a site specific to finding roommate tenants, and there is a huge demand for it as well, so it is a great alternative to fill vacancies for houses if your owners are open to it and you price it correctly. 

He has helped me with some creative financing and outside of the box strategies in the past.

@Chirdeep BhutaniIt's market specific, but residential RE and commercial are not always directly correlated. 

Why I am leery of these "creative" things for people with little to no money

If you buy in a market that does not yet have rules on STRs, they will someday and you don't know what direction they will go.