Most RE investors when starting need the property to at least support itself.  

Where to start?

She has been trying to BORROW the funds she needs $550K to pay off the Husband and another $300K of additional funds (Totaling $850K) so that she has the EXTRA borrowed funds to be able to make 2-3 years of payments on the financing (versus raiding her retirement account).

Would love to know if you think I'm missing something here, or what other options you think someone in this position could explore to start getting their feet wet and moving forward in the near term.

I would like to pull out some equity from my primary property so I can start investing in real estate, but my house is in need of some renovation.

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What you pay with labor will depend on if for instance one of my units still has a good pad and tack and strip then I just pay for carpet and installation cost.What you will pay will also depend on how much you are installing at one time.I don't like Berber for rentals.The design of the loop once it starts unraveling it can unwind pretty good an dis harder to get certain stains and pet stuff out of it.With carpet you want a Nylon carpet even if the cheaper version.Some carpet guys will try to sell you the rubber composite carpet stuff which is the really cheap stuff so it will stand up to tenant abuse.The problem is it can only be cleaned usually up to one time and then you need to replace it again.So I would rather get a cheaper nylon that can be re-cleaned many times over after installation for an additional .10 to .15 a sq ft extra than the super cheap stuff I will have to replace again.If you get 1 sq ft for carpet,pad,tack and strip,and labor install and it is Nylon you are getting one heck of a deal.Even at a carpet place usually you are at .40 to .50 for the pad and .50 to .60 for a cheap carpet.Then you have to do material to install and labor.I have seen sometimes if you have to do a small area you can pick up quality remnant pieces for real cheap and hit that type of number or buy in bulk.

The house will be vacant starting September 2024. 

I put 20% of pay into 401k and have a couple payments totaling around $1000.

I recommend starting there as the majority of your everyday materials will come from such a store and they have good return policies.