Quote from @Aroldo Gonzalez: If you borrow money from your current property, that will increase your debt and reduce - and possibly eliminate - your cash flow. 

If your potential numbers already look good, you most certainly won't regret the money spent on a designer!

Rather, it will be considered earned income... and if you have losses especially the first year with a bunch of start up costs and depreciation... and if your money is at risk (let's assume Yes), then this business venture can offset (or add) to your W-2 income.This is how short-term rental loophole works.

So, looking at the flips I take on, with anticipated profits in the $70k+ range, the setup costs alone are eating nearly 20% of your potential profits, and that is before any real splits with your investors, leaving both your investors and you with not a lot of money left to spread around.A fund could work, but typically, for the economics of a syndication/fund structure to work, you are looking at several million of equity, leveraged up to high single millions, if not into $10+ million range for their to be enough money to make it worth everyone's efforts.

I've been told I can get rehab budget (basically hard money terms) but I'll struggle to get commercial financing given the number of units and valuation.

Would be great to find a way to use her RRSP money without penalty.... or does that only work if you have a mortgage in your name?

You will only have one opportunity to get money out of an approved tenant.

Being that I own it outright, and only need $125k (budgeting for unknowns), not many hard money lenders have been overly interested.

Failure is not an option in anything that I put my time and money into. 

It is still a good investment, as money continues to flow into the area.