How certain of the appreciation are you would also play into that question.Run some scenarios on what you could do with the extra cash vs what you stand to gain from the appreciation play and decide based on that and your goals.

He can't be more lenient on cutting rates like the last three meetings, and now has to actually play defense by hanging tight or actually increasing. 

If they don't you personal financial situation plays a bigger part in securing a loan. 

I have 2 factors that I know play into it, but there's always more beneath the surface.

Since most of the homes that flooded took on electrical damage, you will almost certainly need to file a permit to do renovation as you will need the electric company to shut the power off, provide temporary meters, and turn the power back on.

If you have rental(s) or plan to get one and want to decide between long/mid and short-term rental strategies taxes do play a roll if you have high W2 income you want to try and reduce you tax burden. 

If you plan on buying these properties using a mortgage its also best to begin the pre approval process and work with an investor friendly lender to help guide and educate you what the best product might be for your projects to make sure you dont already max out your borrowing power after the first deal.

However, I received some feedback from one of my partners that the play here would be for an investor to subdivide or re plat the land for a multiple tenant situation.

I think there's a fair amount of play in the budget for what needs to be done.  

I would recommend to look into something more powerful for business/corporate usage.Section C is not my expertise, but I would recommend to follow  the law and have strong security policy such as minimum password requirements and regular changes.To end this on a positive note, Cybersecurity is slowly moving to the forefront of business thinking and it's taken more seriously now than 10, 20 years ago.