If I did would I be able to put a lien on the property if by some small chance the project went belly up?

But if you do that the right way then there is a big fat paper trail to the mortgage fraud.  

Now our goal is to refinance those properties before the end of the year so my banker can get a big fat bonus and I can get out of high interest.   

However, the rule is actually that you must correct the calculations in the year the error was discovered.So advocating a willful blindness to the depreciation during ownership is one of the best ways for your client to end up with "willful disregard" penalties as well as a fat preparer penalty.Run from this person. 

No fat cat in CA with a credit card can out compete you standing on the door stoop of a seller!!

appetite for riskYou can absolutely get a job in RE but keep in mind that it is a cyclic industry where you have to be entrepreneurial to survive downturns, especially times like now when a lot of RE firms are 'trimming the fat' (true in general but even more so in RE)If you're dead set on a W-2 in RE with a good (it's relative, compared to tech, W-2's in RE aren't nearly as exciting) salary and stable, try looking at working for a developer maybe as an analyst.

I'm mostly concerned about a guest inadvertently down cycling it and putting it into economy mode which turns the heat down low, (which I fat-fingered by mistake on our hot tub when we first got it...) 

Which I am neither Too many good deals with lots of fat on the bone for me to get into major rehabs  

@Donald JonesIf it’s one investor your soliciting money from or a loan you can put something together - if you are pooling money then you need an attorney as you have to file exemption from sec ad if you have 10 investors and project goes belly up how is it prioritized ?

As the saying goes - hogs get fat, pigs get slaughtered.