I have a ton of construction experience and contractor management experience for multi-million dollar projects if that counts for anything (My W2 job is a project manager for a huge general contractor).Does anyone have a piece of advice for me regarding funding my first flip?

I have had internships as a construction project engineer in Manhattan working on luxury hotels and in Newark, DE working on a dormitory. 

I know that Chicago has it's fair share of economic and political issues, but it's also a big City with a lot of positive aspects. 

I've viewed quite a few homes and, barring some distressed properties that are too big a project for me, only one has really piqued my interest and seems to have some decent numbers to back it up.Still, small price to pay in my mind for getting to live here.

You might want to clarify if you are asking about the land value from the banks perspective or from the "business" perspective (ie if you were going to sell the project on the market). 

The property has about 1,500 SF of space that's not being used, so we're adding a business center/study/group project area, as well as a fitness center.

Should I be refinancing to just cover my total project costs to pay back my heloc and other initial costs? 

Instead ask for a couple of projects that he has done, look at the records to see how much they were bought for and how much they were sold for.

Who owns the mineral rights they don't always transfer with the property.Another likely scenario is it could of been a lay down yard or similar for nearby project..

Here are the rough numbers on one of the houses, both are similar:Total investment (acquisition, remodel, carrying costs) - $200,000Current value (after netting out selling costs) - $270,000Potential Rent - $1,500/monthI can do a refi and get my $200K back out of the project, that leaves me with a mortgage payment of $1,400 including taxes and insurance (assuming 30 yrs. at 5.5%).