Alternatively, leaving the insurance in your friend's name raises an interesting issue as to whether the insured (your friend) has an insurable interest in the property (and thus has a right to insurance proceeds if the property burns down).   

Without knowing much about your property or location I'd say a decent thick LVP with foam backing is a reasonable alternative to tile but the substrate needs to be very flat for either of those so preparation is key to a good result.

There are possible alternatives which would allow to you use these funds without paying taxes or penalties.First, you may wish to consider transferring the funds to a self-directed 401k or IRA which will allow you to invest in real estate without incurring taxes or penalties.

@Sean Vanderveer, if you can establish a Solo401K (as it requires you to have self employment income...which you can generate by doing property management for your properties), that is a much better alternative than SDIRA, with multiple advantages.

If you have alternatives I would be happy to look them up as well!

Or, find an alternative way to fund to projects through a personal loan or store cc if you can pay it off before accruing interest.

If the lender could not obtain actual service, they would need to pursue (likely after court approval), alternate service such as posting.

@Chauncy GrayIn order to establish a self-directed IRA first you need to find a custodian allowing alternative investments.

It's one thing to use a calculator and another to build one.On that note, accounting for your alternative (renting out a 1-br apt) in these projections would give you a truer ROI.

They normally cashflow well, are easy to manage, and thus are more passive than most of the alternatives.