A home (whether primary or investment) in my eyes is considered as a savings account once you own it - a store of wealth. 

Ask the builder or their legal representative for a copy of the CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) or any supplemental documents specific to the development.Financing Considerations: If you’re financing the property, some loan types have limitations on renting out a home within the first year.

The answer to that question will probably be eye-opening for you!

Doing this will open your eyes to how people waste space in real estate today.  

We are newbies, and don't want to miss out on a great investment and tax savings opportunity, but obviously want to do everything correctly in the eyes of Uncle Sam.

Only thing I would add here is to take a birds eye view of the area and try to decide if it will gentrify in your favor so the property appreciates at a higher rate than other areas.

Germantown has plenty of opportunities, especially if you keep an eye on areas with improving infrastructure or schools.

This means that the property doesn't qualify for the extension, probably because it doesn't meet the covenants such as DSCR or debt yield, so the lender is making an exception and is willing to grant the extension in exchange for the $4 million.

I am eyeing up a property I want to buy that costs much more than usual so my plan was to use a hard money loan to purchase, and rehab it with my own money, then sell. 

I was never even informed of this expense, I just keep a close eye on the ledger which is how I saw the expense.