Honestly is better spent as a down payment on a second building. 

Did you know before it happened, that new regulations were coming regarding condominiums that now makes a large number of people both regret buying and now not being able to afford the  payments on the "great deal" they bought a while back?

Your $80K HELOC can serve as the down payment, as most lenders require 20%-25% of total project costs upfront.

Sure, because when you take rent payments out of the equation you can focus on the tenant landlord relationship and providing the best experience for the tenant.All the best!

I think it was for down payment and closing costs.

DSCR loans are based off of down payment, credit score and either actual or market rents so it helps to supercharge an investor's real estate goals and net worth.

However, with a SFH you will lower your standards when vacancy arises more than one month as you have no income coming in to male that payment.  

Simply gifting him half the property now wouldn’t immediately allow him to claim the exclusion without fulfilling this residency requirement, I don't believe.One thought would be to use a HELOC to pull just enough equity out of the current home and use it to buy a smaller home, or at least the down payment.

This felt like they were turning me into their money-making machine.If they’re charging $10K upfront, plus $200 per month, and taking 50% of the profits, why aren’t they putting in 50% of the work or covering 50% of the down payment?

During construction you'd have minimal payments, either IO or accrued.