I wish I could have provided more information but that is all I know at this stage.  

It’s very possible to get it down to 75% by doing the project as a whole instead of 2 stages.

Something with high execution risk like ground up construction or heavy value add, is going to be much more susceptible to a downturn than something like a core real estate investment that has much lower execution risk.As a conservative investor, at this stage of the cycle, I don't invest in anything unless I can run a recession stress test on it.

Seems the terms are better than a commercial at this stage (1st property) rather than putting it in my llc.

A few months ago, I posted an article on a flip that was in the beginning stages in a historic district of downtown Tucson: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/55....

I doubt there would ever be a better time to sell before renting again or moving in since all the staging fix up for sale will have been done for you. 

At the end of the day, your tenants will fight to get a lower rent and a better arrangement.

We want to buy the new house first, move into it, then stage and sell the old house.

If they're already trying to skip the rules/requests in this stage, what's going to happen in a few months after they move in and are comfortable?

I always paid for all my materials out of pocket, and then paid the contractor in pre-arranged increments to be paid when certain milestones are hit.