A few additional notes to answer some of the questions:RE: "All the same permits and inspections should be required whether the home owner does the work or not." -...this doesn't seem to be the case where the state building code wasn't adopted.

As a pure investment it looks okay, but with a primary residence for my family thrown in at zero additional cost, it looks really really great.  

In addition, after NDAs expire, intellectual property rights such as copyright or patents may remain to protect trade secrets.The NDA must be supported by a fair consideration such as payment for service or potential employment.

In addition to that, most buyers have a preference for placing their own tenants versus inheriting tenants, even if they just moved in.

None of this stuff by itself is a ton of money, but add it all up and it cuts into profits.

Just ask a lender if you can do the project as tenants in common with 3/4 and 1/4 ownership with you being a non-occupant co-borrower as @Joseph Chiofalo suggests. 

To save cost and headache I suggest to keep your property and his property out.

Any suggestions, details or direction you can point me into would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to talk more offline I can help give to some ideas or suggestions. 

It also is worth approximately $140k more than my property is currently worth.My question: when evaluating renovations, is the math as simple as (Additional rent expected per month due to renovation * 12 months/yr)/total cost of renovation = ROI.