I would know that they (hopefully) understand all the rules and regulations and would have more confidence that were not going to involve me in something shady by accident (or design!)

i guess the pros is you have access to the MLS and pretty much can pull comps by yourself. the cons would be you have a lot more on code of ethic, regulation, and law to comply vs. no license

And further: "asking for forgiveness" from a South Florida HOA or Condo Association usually gets you added legal fees for the " repercussions" of " Skirting" the Community By-Laws and/or Rules and Regulations.

I'm wondering why I paid 3 lots of taxes when there are only 2 units and there is only allowed to be 2 units under zoning regulations?

A private lender (someone you personally know) is still subject to the regulations for residential loans.Even if you manage to get some "invisible" loan that doesn't show up on your credit report, it will still likely be a problem for the other loan. 

As Account Closed has shown in the link, there are some regulations in place preventing you from routinely using an FHA loan to flip properties.It's my understanding that FHAs are for OWNER OCCUPANTS.

This is DF things in my personal opinion is to regulate the mortgage industry enough to where Wall Street will get back into the game. 

Different Brokers have their own individual brokerage rules (within the confines of the regulating agency rules). 

If Wholesalers are given the Earnest Money, are they required to deposit in an Escrow account that is regulated like all escrow accounts?

Look up Regulation D offerings here in BP and other places, that might be the more costly approach.