You are betting your money on the neighborhood and the property (and the client base that will attract), hoping to produce a return greater than what the S&P 500 would produce over time.

Bet that is going to stir up the POT.I  found them in a town of about 150,000People, where my work was.

Best bet is a DSCR, but you might have trouble with a BRRRR, but you could always refi in to DSCR after rehab. 

Betting on a live-in flip to get more money for your next deal is not a great idea if your house hack was your first investment.

Rather just get a flat fee from a lawyer to write stuff up for me, or bet on an a la carte online medium to curate it for me. 

You could certainly "be in the right" regarding getting screwed over by the builder but this is a situation that is going to be very very risk for a hard money lender - typically stay away from unfinished rehabs/builds due to running out of money.Your best bet I would say is to find a local private money partner (maybe as more of an equity investor) or to try to finish one first and then re-evaluate, instead of trying to borrow for rehab on both

Weigh these with the time to manage a long distance team and travel to look at properties, check on remodel progress, and property condition after renovation.

Some say a local commercial lender is the best bet, but in certain areas even the local banks don't want the "risk" of a multi-family turned into a boutique hotel. 

We have decades to bet on appreciation in more desirable parts of Southern California.  

At the moment, I believe your best bet are some cities in Broward and Palm Beach.