My second piece of advice coincides with my first but that it is you have time.

This is a challenging time to place tenants.  6 weeks is my second longest ever with the longest being a unit that was ready mid December and took over 8 weeks. 4 months is long.  

I am of the opinion that cash flow underwriting comes second, after first nailing the long term deal fundamentals, how strong is the equity upside and market generally speaking. 

my condolences on your recent lost.there are a few ways you can do this, as mentioned above you can take a heloc on your primary residence which will give you a second mortgage, first mortgage payment wont be impacted. you can do cash out refinance which will give you one mortgage and payment. it will pay the old mortgage and give you money in your pocket to pay for the rehab.or you can do a renovation refinance which is similar to cash out refinance but we would contractor involved  as part of the refinancing and they are paid through the loan

I paid the first $5K but started having second thoughts because of high vacancy rates in the area.

I'll also second comps are your biggest tool to get the most accurate revenue number.

One for the second house and one for your primary residence on an owner occupied permit. 

Another example of this is Newark, extremely strict laws making land lording a second job.When finding the right area to invest, towns with more lenient land lording laws and proximity to public transportation tend to be a receipt for success.  

Private Lender Partnership: Partner with a private lender or investor willing to take a second lien position to get you to 85-90% cash out.

Weekly coffee held every friday from 7-8:30 at smokey row on cottage grove held by Darson Grantham  Monthly meeting second Tuesday of every month from 5-7 at Keg Stand (they did re brand & it is named differently now) but that is where it is held.