The bulk of my expenses are my current mortgage on the property, with that payment @ $930/month in total (conventional 15 year note, 3.5% interest rate).I am thinking my best path is to go talk to banks (including the one I have a mortgage with) and try and get a construction to permanent loan that could pay off my existing mortgage and finance the construction, which would then be rolled into a mortgage once I'm done with the build.If I walk away from this, I stand to lose 20-30K, maybe more depending if I sell the lot or let it go to foreclosure.

When we replaced windows on a 1966 house with impact-windows recently, the installer had to remove 3-inch gashes in the plaster/sheetrock in order to affix them to the frame with metal strapping.  

Let’s look at the basic facts. 1) As is, the house doesn’t cash flow well compared to value and will only be worse when you refinance. 2) SFH values fluctuate with the market and can drop at any time if the market goes cold or worse. 3) You have a limited window to capture permanent tax savings and lock in profit. 4) A 1031 exchange is not a tax savings but rather a tax deferment. 5) MFU’s give you far more control over value and much higher cash flow returns than SFH.

I have a house that I have been rehabbing where the city is expanding to a four-lane road. The problem is they messed up my yard along with the city drains so water is being routed directly to the foundation. Any idea...

It's never been clear to me that anyone has a clue how to consistently predict something as complicated as macro policy and its impact on FX and Interest rates.

I grew up from the 60’s onward until permanently leaving when I started college and as such the area I knew as a child has drastically changed. 

His 1031 exchange should have had no impact on you whatsoever. 

I guess because my intent was to separate both worlds (manufacturing & REI) I never sat down and thought about how my job now could impact my REI future.

Have her talk to a loan officer about paying down (not OFF even if she could, probably don't want to lose that type of account off the credit report right at this moment as that has adverse impact too) those loans and see what difference that might be able to make to her credit score and what impact it would have on conventional loan programs available to her. 

I may plan to use wood studs to make another bedroom in the living room area (either a temporary one or permanent).