This is not going to be the most "ideal" scenario that you would prefer, but the alternative would be to go through the lengthy process in housing court which may not guarantee any solution. 

Materials are more like $185 a sq .

There are other loan products out there with a varying degree of rates that could be alternatives, but I'm not an expert in mortgage products so I'd recommend speaking with a lender first. 

We build cost plus, so our fee is set and the client/owner is responsible for the labor/material costs during the build whether they end up being lower, higher or right at the estimate/bid price for the bank.This is really up to him to do. 

I'd try setup an alternative for her. 

This is also why so many landlords are moving toward alternative strategies such as short term rentals, medium term rentals, PadSplit/coliving, sober living (like me), and more. 

Do you have any recommendations on courses, books, or materials to learn from? 

I've been an investor and broker for the last 10 years in FL and NC, and specialize in the mountain regions, and beach regions because that's where most of the tourists, and investors who want getaways, invest (certainly there are many other interesting markets to invest however, booming wine country for example..)To add to it, I love the environmentally responsible home building, that's something I've had an interest in for a while, and I've worked with several contractors and architects in the last few years to come up with a useful plan for alternative and environmentally responsible building materials. 

I am a recent graduate from Texas A&M university and a few months prior, I was considering getting into Wholesaling.I learned that with Wholesaling, there were so many pitfalls concerning wholesaling, legalities that one needs to deal with when wholesaling properties, so I decided to look at another alternative route instead.One of the areas that caught my attention was being a refferal partner for Real Estate and Private Equity investors.Do you guys know what states such activities are going to be legal or illegal?

This could be an alternative method you use if you have trouble getting a HELOC on your property that a lot of investors who use the BRRRR method use.