I recommend you pay him the final amount, but get a lien release, in advance, that says if you pay him this final amount, he will have been paid in full for his work and no further liens can accrue.

Not the best thing to do - I should have raised it originally for a higher amount.

From my investigation a fair amount of time is spent on developing (private money)   

As others have said, there are other options at lower amounts too!

I also wouldn't be where I am today in terms of my contacts and relationships with vendors, to be in a position to self-manage confidently out of state.All that being said, if another deal with the same amount of hair on it presented itself to me today, I would pass simply because my risk profile has changed.

I'd be very open to that.A High Yield Savings Account at 4.5% yields a close to 2.5% after-tax amount.

However, we typically use the FHA-203k loan because it involves a renovation, which I highly recommend if you are looking to really boost your equity and have the cost of the renovation wrapped into your loan with a VERY LOW AMOUNT OUT OF POCKET.I like the FHA loan, but honestly, the Fannie May Home Style is an even better product at this point because you just have to bring a bit more cash to the table 5% vs. 3.5% (w/ FHA), but you have a bit more flexibility.  

If the rate is reasonable then it may make sense to try to save fast to get to the 3.5% down payment on a double or triple - househacking may allow you to increase your savings rate and pay down that loan even faster.As for estimating costs, closing in NY factor at least 1% of the mortgage amount for tax, plus $1500-2000 for lawyer, title and fees, then the amount required by the bank for escrow will depend on the actual property taxes and insurance.

(I also had to come to CA for health reasons, so I am not sure if that is an exception) - You can use that reason to excuse the amount of time you lived in it. 

Except I'm a lot older now, and have a decent amount of cash with a blank slate.