Some lenders will send a reimbursement via check, ACH or wire right away.

We could do labor only to eliminate the up front deposit, but then we would need to pay for the materials and then get reimbursed by the bank, again needing to have a good chunk of the rehab budget liquid. 

We've decided on a 50/50 split in profits.I'm hung up on if the contractor should be paid at all for his personal labor in the project as an expense that will be reimbursed before we split the profits.

Also theres no option to buy so obviously when youre lease is up any upgrades and maintenance you did to it will not be reimbursed or gain you equity.

We've had 2 instances of tenants' doors being broken down - one by the police in a case of mistaken address-identity (the city later reimbursed us for the repair), and one by an alleged robber.

That's just over 8 years to reimburse yourself for the entire cost of the home... that is really good!  

@Tim VandenToorn stated his Property Management company does this and its wise to do so regardless of whether the tenant will be financially responsible for reimbursing you.  

However, functionally, we pay the bills directly for any public utility that has the ability to lien the property, then pass along to the tenant to reimburse us.

I would review the lease agreement that is in place and ensure it says something about tenant does not have permission to make repairs or that the landlord is not responsible for reimbursement for unauthorized repairs and look the current owner of whether a formal authorization was given.

a) I could use my cash and submit for reimbursement checks frequently.