Can you please share some advice on how to evaluate the distress level? 

I have also considered having the concrete polished but there are a few spots that have patches and/or  leveler and I am not sure how well it would come out?

If you are buying in a resort or rural area it's likely an AVM will not be available and be too low in valuation to work.

It feels like one requires the other...refi requires good credit...good credit requires the refi...Does someone have some insights as to how to do a home equity line of credit based on an appraisal and with a low credit score?  

Your cost estimate seems low to me.

After viewing properties, potential renters would receive programmable follow-up questions and even be given follow-up questions to determine their level of interest.

contractor or maybe contractor these guys that do low value jobs are basically judgement proof as in they have no money..

I have a deep pool of subcontractors to choose from that deliver different levels of quality, and could fill any void in a scope of work that we might have. 

THEN I assign a confidence level for each line that I used to create a low estimate and high estimate.

The main reason I am still considering it is because of my extremely low interest rate.