I am also open to connecting with local professionals for coffee meetings or informational interviews.Thank you for welcoming me into this community, and I look forward to learning and growing with your support!

Should I meet this person over coffee?

While these contractors are certainly out there, in my experience they also tend to be the ones that work with home owners directly and charge "retail" prices, not "investor" prices.I would shop around with lenders to understand how they work with their loans.  

Let me know if you want to jump on a call or grab coffee next week. 

After some networking with other local investors I've come up with a few smaller shops that should have good insight into the best avenues, so will pursue that as well.

here is the situation. i left a really good paying job to take care of my 81 year old parents because my dad is chronically ill and my mom is almost there. i wont go into too much detail, but my sis doesnt help them. ill leave it at that. we have a person who comes twice a week to help with cleaning and other household tasks. i carry the bulk of the weight cooking their meals, running errands, grocery shopping, picking up meds, and taking them to dr appointments. its a full time job. i get a small salary of $1000 a month from a care giver sub contractor for the VA. ive been paying my bills with what savings ive had, but only have a few months of funds left. i own a duplex. i have over 200k in equity. i live in texas and texas has weird laws about refi and heloc/heloans when the property is 4 units or less and owner occupied. i would rather not sell, but if thats my only option i will have to at some point.does anyone have any advice or possibly be able to point me to lenders who might be able to work with my situation?

As mentioned above your new rate should actually be 6-7 range not 8s so shop around.

My stepmother, rented the commercial space from the past landlord to open a coffee shop.

I just recently listened to you BP episode.I have also actively been looking in the Flagstaff area with the Short Term Shop agent over there after talking to Avery, @Luke Carl.

That will set the price points you can shop at.