Seller Pre-Sale Financing: Consider selling the tenant-occupied property "as-is" now to an investor, perhaps at a slight discount, which could save time and eliminate renovation costs.

I guess it triggers the "sunken cost fallacy" part of their brain.

It was just an offer (costs extra) through a local lender I used!

Reserves: Do you have enough cash reserves to handle unexpected costs or delays in refinancing?

So I almost “broken even” with the cost of construction vs. valuation aspect.

Well anyone can write anything into a contract, but whether it is legal and enforceable is for the courts to decide...It is State law here that a contractor must call 811 or they are liable for the costs.

Your cost basis would be ALMOST zero if you ever sold.

I would suggest you up your rate from 8% to 10% to help off-set some of that cost. 10% is doable all day long here in Texas.

I believe they are recouping costs associated with loans they don't close.

This lead to piecing together payments here and there and drastically slowed the construction process and major cost overruns.