It can come from a personal investor who will negotiate terms, or potentially a piece of the equity.

As a long-term hold investor, I see this property as -$600/mo to -$800/mo depending on whether you use a PM or not.

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong but the map here used to shaded in terms of the filter selected (i.e.

Once you do this conversion you can't change it back to a traditional long-term rental. 

Looking for guidance on the best way to proceed going forward in terms of asset protection and how to structure all of this real estate… 

What are the terms of the auction?

If you're looking to get into STRs, you need @Avery Carl's book, Short Term Rental, Long Term Wealth, published by BP. 

Both options have pros and cons, and the right choice depends on your lifestyle, experience, and long-term goals.

Personally, I advocate for a long-term investment strategy and would recommend investing the funds, provided you are comfortable with the expected return on investment over time.

The six month cd isn’t the point my understanding is that I can’t just take out the HELOC, I need to actually use the money for my plan to work and a short term CD seemed safe and reasonable