You should consider private money!

He scammed a lot of people out of a lot up-front of money.

The expert you are looking for is called a Land Surveyor, they're going to want 5k-15k, if you want to make any money on your project you need to build a house so you also need an architect, they will want 10k-50k, if you're in a hillside zone you will also need a geologist, they're going to want 10k, you will also need a biologist, they're going to want 2k-5k.

We have several acres that we bought for $100k and still owe 50k on.

Now, we are 11 weeks into an 8 week job and he has abandoned the job with 75% of the money and only 50% of the work done. 

Making money and keeping money are not the same thing. 

If your not ready to spend money on a software you can use tax records.

I would love to talk with a lender to get a better handle on the products that help investors BUT in my strategy, I am leaning toward NOT using hard money at first(if I can avoid it).

It's a big money maker for architects, engineers, and contractors, but not a huge opportunity for investors, nor should it be. 

Save your money/liquid reserves to stretch over more properties or to buy and renovate.