Steady population growth, solid local economy, developing central business district-- all new downtown convention center coming soon. 

Is there any other route to starting to develop my own trusted network of contractors as I start out here?

What does the business and business development landscapes look like? 

I am in the hotel and commercial development industry. 

As you start developing a credit history with the LLC, shouldn’t you be able to exceed the loan limit?

Well you want to be a Developer.. here is one tale..

Since I believe Primerica is like an MLM maybe it will be useful in developing my skills in marketing, communication, networking..which would be helpful in real estate.

But basically the houses were listed for a few months and had a few price cuts and eventually been sold below the asking price.

A big part of the business is developing those relationships with sources. 

If you're doing commercial you're looking at 5%+2) CapEx at 6% seems low, typically when doing revenue/expense analysis 10% is what people use (though if the property really is in great condition your 6% may be justified)3) Most on BP will recommend you budget in some amount of Management Fees because if you plan on doing buy and hold, eventually you may get to the point where you want to outsource the management.