My strategy would then be to lease at least two of the renovated units, increasing occupancy to 90%, which could improve the chances of securing favorable terms for refinancing.I haven't pitched it to the seller yet.

Securing financing upfront is paramount.

We are now suing them in TX small claims court as the security deposit was not enough to cover the 2 - 3 months rent after they trashed the house. 

What do you do to ensure that the tenant is responsible for security deposit disputes since that is the largest reason for owner lawsuitsHow familiar are you with the newly changed laws that can affect you the owner if they are not used correctly?

Private lenders or even creating a small syndicate with a group of investors might also be worth exploring, especially since you can point to your uncle’s track record and your own experience managing rentals as a selling point.If timing is tight, you could look into a bridge loan to secure the property while figuring out a more permanent solution.

This also helped us in an unattended way when investing with my Solo 401k because banks treated the funds as liquid when invested in a public traded exchange versus in their fund and helped with securing better commercial financing on a deal because of the strength of our application in liquid assets.

Loan interest is deductible based on the use of the loan, not the asset securing the loan. 

For my units, I usually look for someone with annual income 40x the monthly rent so I know they are financially secure. 

For example, I have a main account that is for my holding company, sub-accounts for each property, and sub-sub accounts for security deposits and things like CapEx for each property.

We have emails, video conferences, secure portals etc etc.We do have a physical office, and half of our clients are local.