I'm looking to see if someone has a step by step process for finding finding the right market/deal or really any information on what sites/resources to use as I search. 

I have to adhere to the Bank Secrecy Act and the Anti Money Laundering provisions of the Patriot Act as a bank which requires I document and report transaction activity to try to ferret out money laundering, straw purchases, structuring and so on.

There are other ways to structure owner-finance of land.

It sounds like if you just structured it giving him commissions it would not really work out considering he clearly wants more involvement/skin in the game on the project.Maybe just split it LLC 50/50 and the commission savings is a preferred return over his split on the exit?

Unless the contractor has professional liability coverage, not many avenues for recovery and even then its a long and costly process assuming the carrier picks up coverage. 

Goal of 6 properties in total (including personal home)2016The plan: Ramp up my purchasing schedule - having built more resources, developed a level of comfort and understanding of the processes of deal finding, purchasing strategies, and other aspects of buy and hold investing.

As I learned more, I understood that screening was not a fixed process, but one that needed to be improved all the time.It wasn't just one person who had to deal with problems when underwriting deals.

As Bill mentioned, syndications mostly don't structure themselves in a way that is conducive to a 1031 exchange.  

I wonder how the closing process was completed when there was a lien on the property? 

This process can continue almost indefinitely until financial freedom!