The property is livable, but I am account for a pretty significant turn in 4 - 7 years of paint, flooring, and any miscellaneous repairs that the inspector could have missed since it was occupied.

Your job is in Dallas, you are owner occupied?

Seller Pre-Sale Financing: Consider selling the tenant-occupied property "as-is" now to an investor, perhaps at a slight discount, which could save time and eliminate renovation costs.

Get a HELOC, which is possible but more difficult to find on a rental property, and is much easier and cheaper for an owner occupied property.

I think hard money lender to take this risk cannot legally charge appropriately which means the law is working against you (the law meant to protect owner occupied owners from unfair loans).I agree with @Jay Hinrichs that your best option likely is to sell on the mls.  

In addition, if this was originally an owner occupied house, there are often homestead exemptions where the first  $XX,XXX. of the value of the home aren't taxed.  

Owner occ developments there is no value associated to the income approach so these props generally speaking will appreciate a lot more as the neighborhoods are much more desirable. builders the last thing they want to do is sell to investors if they are creating owner occupied communities.. rentals degrade the neighborhood and they will be sabotaging their own values to allow a bunch of investors to buy and rent out in their communities.So when you buy new builds keep in mind if its a build to rent community they will NOT appreciate like owner occupied neighborhoods.. might be best to find something already 3 to 5 years old where the stigma of renters dies down.. that would be best to protect your investment.

@Brett Coultas if you're a newbie, you want to be careful of an "investor friendly" agent selling you something they truly don't understand:(95+% of agents only know how to handle owner-occupied transactions - you can verify this by asking them calculate ROI for you or Cash-On-Cash!

It's doesn't have to be 20% downpayment for a owner occupied home. 

They allow you to include up to 6 months of rent payments in the loan if you are unable to occupy the premises during the renovation.Just to be complete, it's also worth mentioning that both the VA and USDA have renovation loans.