Yea this is a long-term personal play more than a strict STR deal. 

I personally do three types of lease options.

This will allow you to remove the person and do the financing on your own.Home Equity Loan/Line of Credit: Since you're looking to access equity, a home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC) can be a good option.

I got a deal on labor as I know the contractor personally and helped out a bit with the project.

Non-recourse has less personal exposure, but you need a very strong balance sheet to secure this without bringing in a KP.

Not talking about you personally.

Gator most of the risk is on the person providing the earnest money.

Dumb question - but are these auctions online only, or in-person? 

We will shop for used appliances where we can when we need one… or pick up used cabinets if we can, or search eBay for something smaller,  but going to the extreme of personally shipping something big in internationally for one-off renovation needs seems like a stretch of reasonable.Just like you mention, the number of unknowns would not seem to be worth it to me.Just my 2 cents.Randy  

Some will shed most is not all of their rentals and just do lending .. personal choice.. some things to keep in mind ONLY do first loans.