I've heard of people doing this, but you need to be rehabbing it enough to make it higher value so ideally you need to be purchasing something that needs some rehab so that you can increase the equity because otherwise you're not gonna have enough equity to pull out

So be careful of that.

I've got a lot of conflicting ideas bouncing around in my head, and I'm afraid I'm falling into analysis paralysis.Are there any experienced real estate investors in Columbus, OH who would be interested connecting? 

I worked with a travel nurse who does shift work and 5 lenders said that they couldn’t finance her primary residence purchase and I ended up making it happen for her. 

This would be via STR loophole, not REP status. 

Here is a clause from a Heloc I have that would be relevant:Trustor agrees that the nature of the occupancy and use will not substantially change without Lender's prior written consent.

I'm having trouble seeing why that would be relevant to their request.  

I’m thinking that an SBA loan would be our best bet but I am not sure.

A tool to accurately predict the ARV in 6 months or in a year, as well as the project’s rehab costs, would be extremely valuable.

The house I would be renting has a current mortgage (including escrow) of $1,100 per month.