There's a lot of great advice here from a lot of extremely qualified people here so run with that.

With Fannie Mae and the other conforming loan programs you still have to qualify to be approved and deemed you can afford the new purchase.

The value of the land is estimated to be about 35% of the total cost of the project, I have an excellent credit score, high income and very low DTI so qualifying for a loan would not be an issue, other than the fact that I am not a GC.

Qualified mortgages (VA, FHA, conventional etc.) get underwritten to Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie standards and get sold on the secondary market as securities.  

As you know, the reason you qualified for an FHA loan/rate/downpayment is because you demonstrated to the bank that you're going to be using it as a primary residence for the first year. 

Get pre-qualified with a mortgage lender - I have a recommendation if you'd like. 

You may also need to show STR rental history on these properties from the previous owner if you are looking to qualify using short term rents.

I would like to add what qualifies you are a short term rental investor that can take advantage of this "loophole" below: The short-term rental (STR) tax loophole allows property owners to classify rental income as non-passive, enabling them to take advantage of certain tax benefits even if they don't qualify for Real Estate Professional Status (REPS).

That is a very unique situation that no other contractor would ever offer you, so IMO, given your circumstances (assuming you are able and qualified financially and won’t be house poor) I would take your buddy up on the multi construction seminar.

Now I have equity locked in and couldn’t qualify for a heloc due to credit as well.