Personally I'm working on a very exciting niche, but will take some time to pull together; and I'll give you more details as it moves ahead. 

Not that it cant or wont, but unlikely.If OP applies for homestead on a new property, then I personally would not lie during the application about receiving the exemption on the existing property.

Rentals are extremely difficult to make pencil right now but would only personally consider higher end projects because the costs are far easier to absorb than trying to build in lower value neighborhoods.

Is your goal to use being an agent for your own personal investments or actively try and grow your agent business to eventually leave your W2?

If you wanted to fund a portion of the down payment would you suggest a hard money lender, personal loan, etc.?

Id personally classify those as three different investing areas. 

Personally, I've bought older homes since I invest in mobile homes myself.

I have other HELOCs that were much easier to get both personally and professionally.

The person worked for H&R Block, now works for TurboTax Live and is being honest about their skills: NOT QUALIFIED.

What are the usual lending parameters for a person getting there first property with roughly a 700-730 Credit Score and trying to secure a home 200k or under?