They exist for the protection of the public in the ongoing operation of real estate, and this is something they can help set straight if the builder and agent can't at lease explain the reason for the non-refunding.

My previous projects have all been flips so, there is really no ongoing income to track.  

I ran into this with one of my flips.

In my previous experience when applying for conventional loans, the appraisal process has always been a breeze and only issues that has ever came up was appraised value was higher than expected and if I want to increase my loan size.The issues with appraisal started almost right away after I submitted my loan application(it has been over 3 months and it is still on going), because of my lack of experience with hard money lenders, I wasn't really sure the real source of the problems I am facing. 

I do know that if they leave next year and this is still ongoing I may hold the property off the market until the madness subsides.

We're also seeing very strong prices with our ongoing sales, which means that anyone that actually can't pay should have a decent chance at selling their property.

I planned on going in and adding an additional bedroom to each unit taking the rents to 1709-1750.

If you don't plan to invest in real estate in an ongoing and growing manner, then I still would NOT pull money out for this use. 

I ran trainings for gift officers and even high net worth volunteersOne advantage you may have is that some folks like the refreshing directness.

I ran some information through the rental property calculator and it seemed like a great return.