For me to build I would want to see recent comps of sales for the finished project you are planning. 

They can offer valuable insights into the local market, potential rental yields, and specific considerations for a rehab project like the one you're planning.

I plan to live in it and then rent it out in a year. 

Listening carefully and asking open-ended questions like “What’s most important to you in this deal?”

Assuming it simply won't happen, is failure to plan.

Habitutal seems the better plan unless the amount owed to you exceeds what you expect they can pay. 

I was planning on searching here today to see if I can find any meetups in our area.

If you are accredited, the best thing to do would be to invest 50k into a syndication and soak up all the knowledge of how it works from an experienced operator before you make the decision whether it's your plan.

If I have several options, I would prefer a HELOC with no initial draw requirements (i.e. to establish a literal line of credit that I have no specific short term plans to use), i.e. not something like the better.com HELOC. 

Hello, due to a hiccup on my personal credit history I am having issues getting approved for traditional financing outside of an FHA which I do not plan to use as I am not going to owner occupy.