You can reduce this risk by purchasing materials and then paying the contractor in increments.

Is anyone savvy on alternative/ creative ways to pull out/ borrow against equity in order to use the capital toward another project? 

Many insurers have started slipping in language that excludes certain coverages on roofing material. 

Alternatively, there are a few sites out there that can give you an estimate - but what I've found is that these have been highly unreliable (even Propstream). 

Have you explored alternative financing options, like hard money loans?

I am very handy so would do any upgrades and he would pay for materials.

If you cannot qualify or not eligible (if you already have 10 properties financed) then you look at other options like DSCR or other alternatives like non-QM options. 

Although I rarely watch any of the gurus promotionial materials these days, the 40k flip program caught my attention enough to watch the pitch, especially when I saw him mentioning N.E.

The alternative is to find a seasoned investor in the location where you plan to invest, work out an agreement with them to bring their money, time, expertise, relational capital, systems, etc. to a deal you bring to them, and let them show you the process from beginning to end.

Then you need to materially participate in the activity, here are the tests to meet MP: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/material-participation-...I recommend tracking your hourly diligently in a material participation time log.