I am looking to streamline tracking my expenses as I am in the beginning stages of investing.

Financing is always something you need to make sure you have access to at any stage..having a team you are familiar with, who understand your systems/ motivations etc is also imperative to get in order from the beginning.... you;d have to ride both horses simultaneously 

It does sound like you are in the early stages of investing so you may need more education but you should be getting that right now. 

They have skin in the game, a large sum of their own capital in the project already, in the middle stages of entitlements, some permits on hand already.

What were your experiences that have made you not recommend a hard money lender because I thought this was the way to go when I started my flipping stages?

At this stage in the game, I want to know what systems I can implement.

On another note, I’m in the preliminary stages of reaching out to brokers/lenders to build relationships etc.

Modular" homes do have many of the value points that you state in you post in that you can generally have you modular built faster and cheaper than stick built.I am in the middle stages of vetting modular companies here in Texas and will be working to build out several modular duplexes on a piece of land I have identified, jut working with the county engineering team to verify infrastructure.

Most posters on BP are not able to buy a hotel at their current stage, but a single family house is a lower bar of entry. 

So we will most definitely engage with the title company when we are that stage.