We brought acquisition funds, soft costs, and interest carry to the table.

@Bill PlymouthGood points but there is a lot of competition for skilled Realtors—so walk softly and build trust first.

Remember with STRs, you have to furnish and decorate the entire place, and buy linens and towels (plus multiple sets for extras), and cookware and all kitchen stuff. 

My only complaint would be he can seem to be a bit soft on tenants when it comes to enforcing rules but other than that he's been a good partner so far.

Hardwoods last forever, are easy to clean and you can easily change your look or add some softness with an area rug if you like.

If you don't plan on managing the rental yourself (i.e. changing the rooms between guests, sweeping, vacuuming, washing dishes, laundering the sheets and towels, etc.), then you'll need to budget for a property manager. 

The first one (ideally around $300k) is to cover pre-construction soft costs, have some liquidity and keep the family's living expenses and the second one would be used to fund the project itself.We would most likely need a loan with deferred payments or use the money from the first loan to pay interest only on both loans.So our goal right now is to figure out whether this is even possible with given circumstances.Are there any other options for something like this?

It's not for no reason - acquisition fees alone on a $10 million dollar fund can make the general partner $200,000 without having to put money into the deal (to be fair, they may have to guarantee the loan and pay for due diligence and soft costs).Real estate celebrities have the audience, brand recognition, and trust of real estate investors.

Not on major roadway and close to well rated schools, and sports clubs.  

Our realtor walks the property and provides and soft quote in rehab work based on sq ft comps from our construction division.