You can say it had to be cut urgently and try to get them to reimburse you after (may not be successful but at least the danger to your tenant will be gone and you won’t be sued by the tenant).

I maybe got paid $50 an hour and when I did my side gig, I was getting paid $100 an hour.What do you do for your W-2 job?

Of you can relocate and house hack, I highly recommend that so you give up less cash upfront.Good job not spending your stack on some bad *** pick em up truck or other nonsense young people would otherwise spend it on! 

We found out the potentially the whole block has led pipes so we are needing a contractor to cut a hole in the floor.   

It is usually fairly cut and dried.

Prior to losing the home in foreclosure the previous owner had retaliated against the lender by cutting out most of the exposed electrical wiring and removing the heat and air units from the property. 

Document all of what you do if you are going to get it done for them, and/or if you cut them a check then make sure it is in writing that it was all done and they cannot come back to you at a later date asking for more money/mitigation.  

It is exhausting to live in a job site and feel like you are bleeding cash, but we've done a couple of times and still think it's a good idea.

There are often church groups that can help, but he needs to start looking for a new job-he should have done that as soon as he was laid off. 

Good job!