Are you tied specifically to MA or RI? 

However, keep in mind that tying your primary home to an investment carries inherent risks, especially if the flip doesn't go as planned.

Heavy cases of clear cut fraud and flat out lying to their investors. 

Perhaps you start a side business or go all out on cutting expenses that are sacrificing things that you want.

You need to minimize upfront expenses because 100% of your investment is at risk and lost if the lot is not buildable.My favorite strategy is to locate the property and tie it up for usually no more than $100 for a period of 8-12 months, analyze it myself and if I believe it to have a chance at being buildable I create a permitting plan and market the property to other investors/builders willing to take on the permitting risk.  

Starting with a mentor is very smart – it really cuts down on the learning curve, especially with something like a fix & flip.

I always lean toward holding onto a property that’s appreciating, especially when it’s tied to such favorable loan terms.

I've wondered that myself and thought: If an investor was looking for birddogs why would the birddog have to pay the investor money before they began securing leads for the investor, that the investor would then in turn give the birddog an investor's cut on the profit end???

Cut your losses and free up capital.

Also, if you keep your money tied up in the form of equity with a low rate of return, you can be considered to be losing money if there was a higher interest rate opportunity you weren’t taking.