I recently participated in the Howard county tax lien sale and have a property that I can now start the foreclosure process on.

Sites such as biggerpockets.com have many syndicators that participate in the forums.

I don't have to participate in the program in my state, and I don't participate. 

Material participation.I discussed STR material participation requirement in my other post, linked at the top of this one.

Federal programs will require you to use GC/licensed folks for a lot of the work and they will get reimbursed by the institution that your loan is with; many GCs don't want to wait on the float time of requesting funds and getting them.Depending on the program and rehab/condition of the home, you may not be required to live in the home (think black mold remediation...bank isn't going to put you in a compromised position) however they may have min/max of when you need to move in.

However, participating in a syndication or fund tied to real estate activities might help if the income flows through as rental or pass-through income.

Obviously, they will pay less for these loans because of the resources they spend upfront.Most of the larger private lending firms will participate in correspondent loans.

my SS deal is one of my participation deals were I provide the capital to the operator via a debt instrument then take a participation as part of the note agreement. 

You should also check to ensure they have Errors & Omissions insurance, Fidelity Bond coverage, and a Financial Institution Blanket Bond.Some are more consultative and advisory and provide guidance, while others are just processors. 

The institutional firms that do this type of lending (we deal with them every day) have to "securitize" the loans...meaning have their hedge fund/Wall Street backer bless the deal.