Comp the property, get a soft preappeoval (no hard inquiry) and then priority mail a letter (stands out). 

Things you'll want to get checked include: the roof, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, subfloor (check for soft spots), siding and skirting. 

Honestly, if the zoning "by right" scenario only allows for certain types of home to be built on that residential property I would underwrite for that scenario first and make sure you have a viable project and 'Plan B", because going for a tiny home community without a plan B has a very high risk, and with 5 acres... you can find yourself upside down pretty quickly once you start adding all the soft cost / hard cost to your underwriting.I would recommend talking to the planning department, ask them if any projects like the one you're thinking about has come across their tables, and how open planning and city council would be for such a product. 

From there, you'll have to go around the home to see if there are any soft spots in the subfloor before laying over any new floor over it.

When you are actually raising money for a specific deal you have under contract, raise twice as much through soft commitments (commitments where they have not wired funds yet / non-legally binding commitments) because you will find many people back out when it comes to actually wiring the funds (at least on your first deal).You should start speaking to and interviewing syndication attorneys (feel free to DM ME for a list of syndication attorneys).

I tend to have a soft spot for dollhouse cottages.

But I would not touch them for a rental.I personally have a soft spot for rundown fourplexes built after 1975. lol. 

I have found a lender who has given a soft okay given the limited data I have provided.

Try to secure soft commits while you are looking for deals.

Two-bedroom: 600-1,000sfADUs that have two bedrooms range in their rents from $1,800 on the low end to $4,500 in areas such as Westwood & Hollywood Hills.Three bedrooms: 800-1,200sfThree-bedroom units have been ranging from a low of $2,400 all the way up to $5,000 in areas like Valley Village and Topanga.Below is the annual return analysis of investing in building an ADU for rental income, but doesn’t consider the increase in your property value by having an ADU when you go to sell your home.Studio (garage conversion)Let’s estimate the all-in costs including construction and soft-costs are $100,000.