You sometimes need an attorney to be the bad guy if for some reason they have trouble evicting, and attorneys are also used to hold money in escrow in certain situations where one side holds money to insure compliance on certain issues. 

CFPB will send communication to their counsel and/or compliance department, everyone will freak out and then reconvey quickly.

I just want to make sure I'm in compliance with the law.

Working in finance during my military service and working in Financial Compliance for the government has really opened my eyes to the financial world. 

the only hurdles I can see are:1 you capacity to identify a good deal2 Compliance to the mileuschutz rules if the building is located in them. 3 Your own construction skills or the skills and cost of getting external help. 4 your sellings skills.

Any recommendations for a local consultant who knows Miami code compliance extremely well?

Hopefully your property is already in compliance with safety standards anyway. 

So Chicago landlords can use separate electric baseboard heating for each unit and forget about being in compliance with Chicago's heat ordinance -- each unit controls its own heat (and pays for its own heat).So just add baseboard electric to the second apartment and ell tenant he can turn it on when it gets cold.

The biggest "pitfall to watch out for" is going to be compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act since it sounds like you are considering loaning to owner occupants. 

YouTube is loaded with videos on how to buy, rehab, rent apartment buildings but there is little out there on the business side of entities and of course how to attack the commercial stuff like shopping centers on Loopnet.Everyone knows you need big money for the larger commercial down payments, and I do know that you need to play the business credit game with a seasoned entity/entities to get the millions you'll need for commercial.I advise starting a LLC or corporation in a favorable city, county, state where you know the land, and spending a good two years on compliance, credit and seasoning.  80-100 would be the target credit score on the entity with a dozen smaller credit lines before applying for a commercial loan.