For crowdsource investments on Republic, StartEngine, etc there's a great resource called Kingscrowd that reviews each investment offering and gives details and ratings on the team behind the project.

That's the most polite way I could put it, in fact.

Quote from @Mani Sundaresan: If I’m financing a rehab project with a hard money loan, do I still need to issue 1099-NEC forms to my contractors—given that the funds come from a loan, which isn’t taxable income?

Then you'll have to figure out how you fund the project (land purchase + build costs).

The contractor also committed to informing me and getting my approval for any cost changes during the project.

Was about to embark on a new construction project in Gainesville.  

If you decide to revisit STRs, you might want to explore properties where you can project expenses independently, such as using local STR forums or online tools to estimate maintenance, management, and occupancy costs.For networking and strategy-building, you might find local meetups or groups beneficial.

That would set you up and make it easier to scale to another or larger project.

Hey James, what a col project!

I have several current and former clients that have done similar projects, mostly in neighborhoods where either 1) they grew up in the neighborhood, 2) they still go to church in the area, or 3) they have a relative that still lives in the area.