Find a way to creatively finance a great deal or wholesale out?

[Kate Porter]

I'm a new investor and have been looking for a place in a desirable location where I could turn it into an STR and keep it as a vacation home. I found some folks who are considering selling a fixer-upper in a GREAT location in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (with a fantastic STR market). There are not a ton of houses for sale in this area and after doing a cursory search, don't see any in foreclosure (at least on Zillow) so I see this as a great opportunity.

There is a couple who recently bought a fixer-upper (5 BR, 3BA) in the hope to rehab it and use it as a vacation home.  It needs a lot of work and they've already spent time and money demoing some necessary things, cleaning the house out, and more.  The husband needs to get major surgery that will prevent them from being able to do the work on the house for some time and since they live hours away, they're reluctantly considering selling it and hoping to recoup the money they spent thus far.

They're willing to sell it to me for $70K cash and it needs about $70K in repairs (they've listed everything that needs to be repaired and even have collected some quotes from local contractors - I believe they may also have an informational inspection report available). The ARV being at least $230K, certainly passes the 70% rule. With it needing to be cash, I'd likely have to take out an HML but I'm not sure I can meet the down payment for the full $140K and show 6 months of spare cash to pay (although I do have funds that are tied up and could be taken out, but it'll take a little time) and fear that with my limited rehab experience, I'll run into issues getting it completed in time. Since it's such a good deal and in such a fantastic location that's hard to get into, should I try to find a private investor who will go 50/50 with me? Or should I just try to see if I can wholesale it out since they're willing to give it to me for such a decent price, to begin with? I have not lined up buyers (this would be the first time I've wholesaled), so that's something I'd have to work on as well.

Any ideas, suggestions, or general thoughts? Thanks in advance.