Not an accountant, and I don't know your W2 status etc. but one thing I've been consistently told by CPAs regarding business travel and deductions is as follows. 

I was able to find one in my REI facebook group.

This seller & I "verbally" (on Facebook) agreed to terms..

Post your MTR on airbnb and limit it to 30+ day stays, furnished finder, or even local facebook groups.

I would strongly recommend doing month to month until you get this building and rents to the status you need to operate with in the margins you need to. 

I went over my LinkedIn connections, facebook, and phone and created an email saying I was doing this (I can share the email with you on a DM, but it wasn't anything fancy.I emailed about 40/50 people, a lot of no's, maybe at another time or just never heard back.

Your statement shows that while you learned "a ton", there's still another few pounds to learn ;)   The real estate professional status allows you to use net losses from your rental properties against your other income, including your construction income.

The bank could foreclose on 50% of the property, however they wouldn't have a legal lot status to then convey to a buyer, resulting in a title issue to be remedied.

Can you claim a home office if you have multiple rental properties but you do not qualify for a real estate professional status?

Find people in those markets by searching here, call agents in those markets, see if there are Facebook groups for KC REIA.