After my new tenant's psycho hoarder wife destroyed my property, smashing all the windows and bringing mountains of trash back to the property, I finally got possession last Wednesday.

Handing over your keys and responsibility of a home to someone who brought nothing to the table is super risky and if it falls through, it will be your responsibility again, and you won't have anything to cover yourself with.

Once you clear the 2-yr mark of living there yourselves, you can likely use the full $500k.Disclaimer: I said likely, because there could be a mountain of complications, as well as some different opinions from my peers.

I can't sleep at night feeling I may have left money on the table, so I do same day. 

Yes it will get the property out of your personal name, act as a deterrent, and get your to the negotiating table possibly faster to settle the claim.

So what is it you bring to the table? 

I will still go and hope the weather man screwed up some. and in the mountains of the west you know how changeable the weather can be.. :)  If there was a motel/hotel there I would have booked that with the cancellation policy  and probably post poned this trip a week.

Find a partner to fund the project, find a contractor, work out terms that are favorable for all parties, bring something special to the table and get higher rents because the property is nice an shiny. 

This is why $400k for a 2 bedroom on a mountain in Sevier County is realistic.

I would be surprised if borrowers could meet the experience criteria, its terms that are real and available but reserved for elite rehabbers with a lot of completed projects.Typically, 15% - 35% of the purchase price (or total project cost depending on the lender) will have to be brought to the table by investor in order to close.Once the loan is closed it works like a construction loan.