I'd like to believe that Portlanders don't conform to cookie-cutter standards (i.e. the notion that everyone wants a nice car and a 3/2.5 home with good schools), and that getting Portland right is about knowing the different neighborhoods well and targeting a specific niche (e.g. maybe secured bike parking and a rooftop garden is more important than a garage and a yard), but we might still just be like everyone else.  

Even notionally a trio of $500k single families would be nice. 

If you're a congressperson and know nothing about mortgages, then all you know is "2008, never again, 2008, never again," and if you questioned an executive at one of these stupidly slow lenders they would say "oh we're just doing our due diligence, no one wants 2008 all over again, after all, don't you know," and this would line up with your preconceived biases/notions, so you as a congressperson wouldn't question it (you would accept it as "due diligence" rather than accepting the truth of it being "horrible customer service"), and wouldn't feel the need to introduce any new legislation. 

This confirmed my notion that hiring a GC to learn from would be a wise choice because this is our first flip project.

@Dennis Nikolaev I was intrigued with the notion of out of state investing listening to Morris Invest.

But, I am not aware of any cases that challenged the notion of the IRS taxing unrealized gains.

@Allen Bruns thanks a lot allen!

I'm still under the notion that I will try to salvage this without forcing it in anyway.    

If your time frame is longer, you will find more options, but the notion of "parking" capital with the need to access it quickly limits your options quite a bit.Its worth keeping in mind that your cash out refi will include paying interest on the capital you pull out.

@Dave Passey - the notion that “the agent is there to protect the best interests of their client….”