and connecting with local REI individuals and attending meetups to learn from experienced investors. 

Break down your rehab into individual jobs, for example get a electrician for electrical work, a plumber to repipe the house, a dry wall guy to close out the walls, etc.

My best advice would be to read through the contract carefully (builders usually have their own individual contract that's written for them and is leaning heavily in their favor).

i do think it's challenging, though, for a brand new investor with zero experience to jump right into a huge rehab with a contractor they've never worked with before.the contractor might want a larger up-front payment to mitigate their own risk, and they're not going to be interested in any kind of fancy nonsense like a 'penalty' when they know a new investor has never managed a large project before.i have also found that some contractors, including reputable ones, don't even want to share itemized bids because they just don't want to have to argue about the individual line items. 

My contractor has one credit card for all of my individually owned buildings (jointly not multiple cards) and one credit card for the building I own in a partnership.

@Jordyn Gegg - I have a PM company that oversees all of my individual LLCs.

Quote from @Brody Veilleux: As far as I’m aware, FHA loans are only for individuals.

If individuals and/or LLCs are the beneficiaries, then it is doable. 

The home sold for 135k to an individual using a VA Loan.

Unless you live in area that has many ADUs already built that have been sold with the home or as individual parcels.