Well I just got out of college and started my corporate career so that’s why I don’t have the cash on hand yet.

Investing with others can be extremely lucrative if you do it with the right people!

I see reviews where people love granite, so it's tough knowing which is the best route!

Several things to contribute here: 1) Private Lenders with no credit experience emerge doing down payment and 100%/High LTV financing at the end of every cycle, 2) they're among the first to loose their shirts in every downturn, 3) although someone termed this type of lending "gator", it's not new, 4) the guy that coined it didn't get into real estate untill well after the last crash, 5) he has no real credit background or experience (he's never been a lender), 6) Google the guy's name and "looses professional license in AZ" to see what pops up, and finally 7) he's really effective at telling people what they want to hear, filling their heads full of hopes and dreams, getting them to buy his training, and his minios generally won't want to hear what a real, seasoned lending vet will try to tell them.

Rentcafe, zillow, avail are some I've heard people use

Not sure if some of the developments completing will help or just bring more people.  

Why not go get a college degree in construction management for that price….

Guest checks in, i double check camera to make sure no issues getting in (sometimes people have issues using Schlage lock.

Attend meetups and meet as many people in RE as you can.

Regarding financing (and sight distance approval), maybe having your architect make up a small model with people and cars to help sell the project to the bank.This could be costly and of course there's no way to measure the effectiveness on their decision.