Try to link up with a real estate agent who is an investor himself and well rounded in his knowledge base. 

http://www.businessobserverfl.com/opinion/detail/S...Gordon beat me to the articles and websites, but here is a link for SW FL.I own property in FL, so I always sleep with one eye open!!

I have the option to not be a Realtor, and still join the MLS, but I'd have to pay a very expensive bond fee/deposit.

Here is a link to the fact sheet:  Homestyle Fact Sheet.  

(wholesale to (cash) buyer, then you do a lease purchase from them)Bond for deed? 

You might be able to do some sort of commercial bank lending if you can show 50% or more pre-leases on your commercial and the numbers all make sense.This strategy could work for any of the lenders above.Bottom line, there has to be interest in the resulting spaces to interest the lenders and the developer, or the developer has to front the entire cost.Possibilities: if the town wants to revitalize itself, it can create a corporation to hold the buildings, and then offer to back the developer of the properties (public/private partnership)The town could hold the properties and issue bonds for revitalization, then do a master lease to a developer/Property Manager to recoup it's funds.

As to the details, you should be able to find the Standards and reporting requirements, possibly as well as points of contact at the link above.

Any help, suggestions, advice, links is very appreciated as I am here to soak up any information I can gather and advance in my journey!

How would I go about linking up with that group?

I would suggest linking up with a NOLA RE agent or someone who knows NOLA as it can be very neighborhood-specific in terms of home values/quality, probably more so than most other cities.