Bonding insures your project gets done, insurance Work Comp and Liability (Yes BOTH) prevent you from being hung out if something goes wrong, and licensing insures that a minimum amount of knowledge exists to be a GC.Skills test- go and see a finished project, see one under construction too.

Home warranty companies exist to collect money, not to pay it out.

I am considering purchasing a single family dwelling in Texas with an existing tenant who has not paid rent since February 2021.

I recently went to my personal bank (the one that I have the HELOC from,) looking to refi my existing HELOC with the idea that I could reduce the rate a bit, and increase the monies available at the same time, giving me more capital to work with for future purchases.For the first time in my life, I was declined. 

Some of the quotes I've gotten are more per quare foot than if I bought a new existing house.

I'm not an expert, but I believe you can buy multiple "like kind" properties as long as the total exceeds the sales amount of your existing property.

Locate the property you want to purchase before selling the existing one. 

It doesn't exist.  

1) We are looking to build a house next year2) Our plan is to attempt a cash-out refi of our existing mortgage (the equity will be used for down payment on construction loan) 3) We would then seek to rent out our current home once we're ready to move into the newly constructed home (understanding this would require us to notify the mortgage company). 

Once the "existing" and "projected" plans were developed for the project, I was able to visually discover better ways to plan the space.