Also I would say that the excessive damage has always happened in my lower tier properties.

If it is Roth, maybe, but that does not avoid the job change risk.I know you want it now, but I think you need to redirect excess 401K deposits (above match) and delegate the would be payments to saving for a real money investment.

Have your  banker state on bank letterhead that you have in excess of X amount on deposit and available for immediate withdrawl.

So ideally, having 20% down or more on the first and the following properties with some excess reserve at all times would be an awesome strategy.

With her income and our savings we are doing fine financially and will definitely have some excess once I get a job. 

I recently read an article that payments made by Zelle, Cash App, Paypal, etc in excess of $600 or $6000/yr will be reported to the IRS and a 1099 issued from the paying firm to the recipient.

In my area there are regular markets that will consider the Renovation Builders Risk but the Vacant policy normally is placed through the Excess (surplus lines) market.   

I fear that you spend $96k to add <$40k value and start with a negative position in excess of $50k.  

Does he have excessive landlord/tenant court history?

Looking for opinions along with pros/cons that I might be missing.Would you rather take a cash out refinance on a property to pull excess equity out (80% LTV)?