Starting out of state with limited funds typically isn't the best strategy, you might be better off learning in your current area and purchasing a house hack property, you will learn most of what you need along the way that way while having a place to live, in the worst case scenario. 

Typically, conventional lenders will not count rental income until you have two tax returns reflecting that income.

The next general meeting in July is a vendor showcase that (I think) won't have a central presentation, but the meetings typically get about 100 - 200 people per month and it's a good networking resource.

You're never going to get anywhere trying to make a legal argument to a mortgage underwriter, since they typically have zero legal training and will just give something the thumbs down if in doubt.

That combination typically is for an extremely risky asset.

Is it typical for the borrower to pay the lender's attorney fees (separate from points) on a transaction ?

There is this house in my friends neighborhood, nice colonial nice neighborhood and typical nice people.

Likewise, talk to the neighbors if the deal depends on buying more land from a neighbor.This isn't looking like a typical wholesale deal if you are doing a rezoning and buying more land to augment the property.

Last point - when I see people publish deals noting 40,50,60+% returns I typically do not even look at them - I find it similar to hard money lenders offering money for 3-4%.

Furthermore, it's hard to tell exactly what's going on in that photo, but that tiny little branch looks too small to do any significant damage, and the dents appear to be hail damage (not typical of a tree limb which would be scratches not perfectly round dents).