.- I was able to get access to private investigator software to find the true owners of these properties since conventional skiptracing produced poor results.  

It's hard to get ahold of our current provider.

Just getting started on learning about how to invest in real estate.

Wanted to get your input on this.Been screening multi-family and commercial real estate opportunities. 

I would just keep it in your personal name and get extra liability.

You do not need REPS to get tax benefits from STRs, and qualifying for REPS does not help you with STRs.

Because of the missing pads, instead of getting to $4M, I could only get to $3.8M at the end of the project (loss of $200K).

You can get money from family and friends, you can get the seller to provide financing, often called "Seller Financing" or a "Seller Carry" or you can get a lender to lend you close to all of the money needed (I see loans at and above 90% of purchase cost + 100% of improvements). 

Can I ask what resources did you use to get the informations? 

With insurance best not to get too tricky as it can bite you in the ***.