This was renting for around $700 (garage for an additional $100). 

Additionally, we hope to relocate near her brother in Florida within the next two years.

For starters, I suggest you tune in to the BiggerPockets Podcast and connect with the local lenders and brokers.

They will not release the restriction to wire the money to me or do any additional verifying or anything to help me get my money to me. 

. - Contractors- Capital providers: JV partners, private money lenders (PMLs), hard money lenders (HMLs)sFor additional context, are you going to be flipping and actually selling or are you going to be fixing and holding for rental income? 

lower the size of your unit and therefore your build cost per unit, your sale price will go down but focus on density and get familiar with zoning and what your city will approve. my best suggestion is to do it in downtown districts where there is unlimited height and unlimited floor area and you can build every square inch of the property and reduce parking because of proximity to transit. property values are higher, rents are higher in downtown markets, there are just too many economies of scale compared to suburban deals.

There are also some groups that get you access so additional features, business training, investment trainings, strategies, business networks for investors to scale up with each other, etc.

I know that there are companies out there as well as independent contractors and wanted to know where to start or any suggestions. 

At a bare minimum, I suggest reviewing the Fannie/Freddie guidelines. 

I have seen people hiring designers from out of country for around $10/hour then have a handyman assemble and arrange the furniture from pictures which sounds feasible.Any suggestions?