The downside is they will take a portion of what they win for you. 

Where can I find detailed zoning information (beyond just the code, such as max building height, maximum percentage for building size, etc.)?

In this case, I paid a contractor that we were only going to use for a small portion of job to allow us to submit permits with his name.  

I was interested in commercial and investment property, so joined a mid size commercial brokerage as a broker - associate.Most brokers/agents at that time, even more so than today, did not “specialize’, at least with very specific parameters.

There are many people on here and other places like meetup that you can gain experience in flipping with little or no money for the education portion. 

I do not recall there being a cost seg portion related to the STRs that make It better but I'm sure doing a standard cost set will also help for tax purposes depending on your goals. 

The properties tend to have larger lot sizes and tend not to appreciate as quickly.

These 6 acres are a portion of 35+ acres we'd eventually like to purchase as well. 

He gets terms for his build portion and you have to put up actual funds.

If you want specific advice, things that would be important would be some background on the sponsor (years in business, portfolio size, you don't have to name names), where the property is (city), what it was bought for and when, how much was the loan and when does the loan mature, how much equity was raised, was there any preferred equity or multiple share classes, what is the occupancy, is the sponsor responsive to your communications and providing reports, and so on.