I'll just be honest...you're in a very difficult spot and there isn't going to be a straight forward or easy way to recover your funds or get the work completed. 

Everyone is not cut out to be a landlord and you are one of them.

And most will be able to pay the taxes when they come due, and put on a new roof, and put on a new coat of paint.As well as replace the carpets, cut the grass on a regular basis, replace the windows, reseal the chimneys when the liners crack, etc..It's unlikely that that these homes will fall into the slum category in 10 years or so, and make the asset underlying the loan virtually worthless.Or just vanish when the place starts to fall apart too much, due to no down-payment (no skin in the game 100% loans).Said the lawmakers who approved this.

Is the lot flat and straight forward, or will it need tiering and piering to keep the house structurally sound?

I also do post to local neighborhood groups on Facebook periodically but recently have cut down on my social media dramatically (too much drama, arguing, and general hatred towards one another.)That said, when you meet someone for the first time and they say, "What do you do for a living" I've (finally) pivoted to say, "I own a small real estate business" first (instead of after talking about my W2.) 

@Daniel Cullen - we just recorded a Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast with an investor who did his first househack in Blue Island.

My landscape boys on hte other hand were smoking while cutting my grass probably at about $12/hr.

Any attempt to short-cut the process is going to hurt you.Figure out a side hustle to raise more money.

I’d much rather create that reality than simply cutting down our costs and deleting all of our passive income.

Give the builder a % cut in addition to money.