Present your qualities and chase after your dreams, and i promise you will accomplish everything you want in life. 

I would not have bought this to be a rental property, since the numbers don't make sense.The risk of renting it out is that the house condition continues to worsen faster than we can afford to fix it, or yet more problems are found.  

I'll take a look.Unless you're working with someone much more experienced than yourself, who you trust with your life, I couldn't imagine buying out of state without flying out to see it. - Jordan

I have paid cash for things my whole life and never finance.  

I took out a $25k mortgage and sold 2 cars to get started.  7 figures of business later its definitely paid off.Regardless of who it has and has not worked for, this is a very personal decision with no wrong answer.Is your desire to create a life you want greater than your fear of losing that money and more? 

This translates into $204K over the life, in addition to the small down payment.  

I have a back ground in construction but seek anew venture with the belief that this is where my life has directed me to be.

As Chris said, if you can find a contractor who is used to working under the conditions of these loans, they will already know what to expect.  

Newbies are always optimistic lolTake into account market conditions in that area.If you go to Zillow, put in the address, scroll down to the tab "Neighborhood".It will tell you the "Market Temp" for that area. 

Anna,When repairs or improvements are made to rental property which is not actually rented or advertised for rent, the improvements are capitalized over the appropriate life of the assets.