The lot is easily capable of holding 2 residences.

I think the hard money loan would be the best route to take as I am confident the upgrades could easily bring the value up to around 150k.

The reason for this post is because, if I'm buying a property, and I can easily afford to mortgage, why is the PITI requirement even a thing? 

I would encourage you to do more research before jumping into this or be mentored by an expert because if you don't know what you're doing, you could easily lose your shirt. 

Luckily real estate is pretty cheap where I live.Taking out a mortgage for real estate is foolish unless you are fairly wealthy and can easily weather it not being rented out/rented out for cheaper than it really should be.

I was surprised to see @Greg Dickerson, state: "You could easily double that in a year with doing flips and small infill development projects."

It could be done at any time fairly easily and I wouldn't be surprised if they still do it.As others suggested, prepare an updated account summary.

Which changes the approach significantly.Also, any tenant management situation takes knowledge and experience... which can easily be learned in a single family environment. 

If this goes even close to a 2008 scenario I should easily be able to buy up several properties cash and quit the rat race. 

As such, if you're able to get that information (either from the MLS or seller), reputable companies should be able to easily give you a solid ballpark idea on renovation cost without visiting the property.It is extremely important to verify the contractors you interview not only talk the talk, but walk the talk.