Travis, wouldn't your property sitting vacant for 6 months make you a little worried?

My suggestion would be sit down with your bother and his wife.

This has "nightmare" written all over it.As @Erik W. pointed out, there are more than a few things here setting off red flags.With that said, regardless of whether this guy is on the up-and-up, it doesn't sound like you're actually in a position (from an education or experience) perspective to be able to help.Unless you have some previous capital raising experience and have a warmed up investor network (or you're sitting on a boatload of cash yourself), it's going to be a real uphill battle to get this thing funded.My biggest question is: Why is this guy coming to you (an admittedly new investor with no experience) to fund his deal?

I have done these as sit-down meetings and as drive-around including to my own properties or rehab projects.  

In these situations is it best to just sit tight for 4 weeks with my fingers crossed?

You should sit down with an expert on this topic.

If you want to sit down and talk real estate some time, phone or in person, let me know, I like to help.  

It just so happens that in addition to time and money savings, they're supposedly good for the environment, and at the minimum, utilizes some of the surplus of containers that are sitting in our bays/harbors.I'm interested in finding out about more on the subject, and to hear any recipes for success for installing these.

Maybe you want to sit on the fence for a year, great keep the HELOC at $0 and don't pay interest on it.For long-term things, which it sounds like you have in mind, cash out refinancing is generally the better fit.

Have a sit down with her and remind her that she rented the unit without washer/dryer.