If you start messing around with increasing your mortgage payment (i.e. increasing the balance by refinancing to extract equity) you really put that in jeopardy.  

Get the carpet treated as quickly as possible, if it's worth saving call the carpet people out, they will extract it  loosen it up in a corner or 2 and put in humidifier's .

It is a LOT harder to decipher THAT, and come up with some barbaric equation-simulation that extracts EVERYTHING and spits out an answer, than it is to just build a website and rank #1 and dominate... honestly.yup yup.Overlord has spoken!

If you seek the property that Dan permit full extract of investment, these are hard to find.  

I would extract myself from this situation in whatever way I need to in order to get the tenants cool and cut my losses.Then I would proceed by finding a reputable HVAC contractor who does good work at reasonable prices, but understand that good work has costs.

Value extracted via a refi can compensate for a lot of cash flow. 

$500,000 @ 6% = $30,000 in so called "earned" real estate commission to have a realtor list a property in the MLS and another realtor reading off the same Menu, bring a buyer and extract that much in Tax Free Home Equity?     

He uses it in his trade (rock extraction). 

you have to be buying low enough, so that even $15k in repairs will allow you to extract your cash back at 70-80% ltv on the refi. quadruple check your arv and make sure market conditions allow for continued trends. 

And, without a living owner, I don't see how you could buy it in pre-foreclosure subject to the existing loan.I think you'll have to wait until it comes back to the bank as an REO, assuming no one grabs it at the courthouse steps.One last idea: If it's a viable fix-and-flip, you might be able to get a cash buyer interested in bidding at auction, with you extracting a finder's fee for bringing the deal to their attention.