But are you saying to find a local bank branch and physically go in and develop a personal relationship with a banker? 

I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will not be able to insure your physical property at this time.

Is that acceptable from the FHA perspective or do they want you to actually physically live in one of the units for the year? 

I have a building on the outskirts of San Antonio, but it is considered San Antonio as far as a physical address.

There are lenders out there spending a ton on advertising with an army of correspondent's funneling them loans and many can very well be one and done borrowers because the loan servicing/construction admin is lousy. 

I am not based in Detroit and can not physically go the office.

Eventually it might not exist if we don't reinvest in our local future.It just seems to me that it’s more rewarding to build a business as a local in a town, where the locals all know each other, and together we can revitalize the physical spaces but also build deeper bonds between neighbors and be proud of the community we live in and participate in making it thrive.

The pre-construction option is very risky, and in Calgary you could very well be loosing $50-60k as well in 1-2 years... 

I see some larger single family homes in areas that appear to be zoned R2 that, at least from a physical perspective, seem like they could work for this.

Since we aren't in that state it would cost more because we can't physically be there to track projects, network for contractors etc.