My husband actually knew the family when he was a child.  

Don't forget that at least at the local commercial level most of these guys and banks know each other so if you get a good relationship (demonstrated by multiple notes with one guy) they see it and it is a confidence level for the second guy as well.I guess my long winded bottom line is develop a relationship somewhere for the first few then expand out. 

(a) It is unlawful for any person, including any entity, to act or assume to act as a home inspector, to engage in the business of home inspection, to develop a home inspection report, to practice as a home inspector, or to advertise or hold himself, herself, or itself out to be a home inspector without a home inspector license issued under this Act.

Honestly, if you aren't looking to sell real estate, use the materials as a learning resource and work on finding an experienced investor friendly agent that you can develop a long term working relationship with. 

I have a few questions about some family property and how to approach development from a financial side, here is some background info.

Find out what zoning your desired use would be allowed in and then look for those districts and see what's developed there.

(Easy enough to compute: All their minimum debt payments, plus child support and alimony payments, plus their monthly payments to you, divided by the their gross income.)I like the TIC idea in my toolkit, however.

I think matching the two (access to low interest finances in the US, and real estate developments in international markets is a winner). lets touch base when you have time we think through this. 

You might could sell the land off for commercial development and let them tear it down. 

From there, you should be able to develop a list of contractors who can help.