Don't spend three years renovating a project when a pro can knock it out in three months, freeing up your time to educate yourself for the next job.Here's my generic LLC advice:An LLC is useful for two things: anonymity and legal protection.

Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started.

Now the contractor is telling me that the actual cost for project is $117K.

Have your income statement both actual and projected, real estate owned, your detailed plan for going forward, have your FICO score, tax returns. 

But this is the bread and butter of what I do in Detroit.Pay cash, do the renovations, then refi out.As you mentioned, you need to be confident in your comps so you can put an accurate ARV on the project before you pull the trigger. 

What is the projected appreciation rate on MFHs in the area of interest?  

That sounds like a cool project!

Construction is expected to take 3 years, and the project is approved to cost $145 Million. 

I would like to know how you under budgeted (e.g. did you bypass any walkthroughs with GC and instead did a quick dirty analysis?)

Louis is how you will meet different lenders, investors, and agents to help make the project happen once you have the funds.If you grind it out now and build a solid foundation for the future, I'm sure you'll be successful moving forward.