their website says they do equipment financing no mention of real estate financing. ???

The city determines whether your investment can meet the three requirements mentioned above.

You mentioned that you are not a W-2, but that is not the only status of income producing individuals. 

This often leads to confusion because the term "trade or business" is mentioned, leading some to mistakenly believe that the entire business can be exchanged.

As Scott mentioned, I am bullish on Buffalo for many reasons.

BUT, like others have mentioned.

Second, their website does not mention a single thing about COMPLETED projects.  

Never pay an upfront fee.You didn’t mention your state but understand that with little exception, an NMLS registration is only required for consumer-purpose loans.

They don't mention anything about paying payroll taxes, workers comp, complying with laws, etcReal estate agents can have a team around them where they do have employees if they have admin/support or marketing team.Regardless, if you want to interchange small business for commissioned sales people in my post you can.My post was mentioning that service providers in the real estate space are incentivized by their advertisements as it will increase their annual income.

Not to mention the notario, the bank trust, and other hoops to own in a beachfront community outside the United States.