The optimal thing would be to have a tenant move in the day after repairs are done, limiting vacancy costs. 

Overall, menu looks pretty good, just not the price.Thanks for input.Terry

Nicely put, @John Barrett , the optimal balance between cash, equity, leverage, and cash flow is an elusive target that probably changes by the minute in today's world of unlimited information. 

A menu will drop down and you can select "Account Upgrades"

Any creative ideas on ways to optimize this or alternate ways we could allow the upstairs tenant to regulate their heat? 

From a purely financial perspective, the optimal solution would be to leave the mortgage in place and simply use the windfall for investment purposes.

Part of getting into REI is so that we can spend more of our time together rather than spending more than half our day at other jobs and commuting, getting to work together is a big part of why we want to take this on (and the potential that RE Investing has for financial freedom).My Concerns: I originally thought I would develop myself as a contractor and do most of the work myself at first, but when I consider the time constraints (holding a house way longer to do the work myself, and the quality of work suffering) I realize this isn't an optimal plan.

Hey Bigger Pockets Community,My name is Kyle Starkey, and my background is in Marketing and General Business Optimizations and workflows.

Nothing wrong with being nicely comfortable and content and doing what matters most to you Instead of hunting for another deal or optimizing every dollar of equity!

You may start with Caliber home loans they are located in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach ,and Hampton scroll down the drop down menu for loans and programs you will come across Portfolio loans