No requirement to be in the inner circle other than to get the 100% funding up to 65% of ARV, otherwise it is 90% of acquisition cost + 100% construction costs up to 65% of funding.

There's no step by step guide but there are key things : Learn: RE strategies, what interests you, what do people in your area need.Connect: find a mentor, accountability group and be around those doing what you want to do.Help: solve problems- do people need dealflow, property mgmt, construction expertise, etc. 

The nicest, most expensive housing should almost always be new construction.

To answer your last question, my realtor has contractor contacts I should be able to leverage for rehab budget estimates, as well as family friends with experience in the construction trades.

For a BRRRR if you are using debt most people will use some sort of hard money to purchase and a construction loan to fund rehab (unless you use cash).

the way to go about it is turn it over to your insurance and get the police report.. sometimes insurance will then subjugate the claim and go after the tenant criminally I had that happen on one of my rentals where the tenant did 40k in malicious damage on a new construction home I purchased in MS. 

Your knowledge in construction, design, and different strategies will be a big help to the community.

I have worked with a builder in the past who offered new construction quads for investment in this area.  

I work for a portfolio lender as their point person for construction loans, and now I'm trying to grow the division.

Yes, sewer clean outs are required on new construction, but on a 1947 rehab house that didn’t have existing clean outs, is it really possible that I can be required to install them?