Ultimately we decided to continue pursuing this deal as the overall numbers are still excellent.

I don’t know what kind of numbers your looking at with each of these and how much money you need to put back in play but the refinance money you will receive will be tax free and the LOC will have interest when you use it.

I don't think I've ever seen a sales commission of 25%.I saw this same scenario played out recently. 

You may want to consider that the interest rates are continuing to creep up, and in 6 months they may be higher than they are now as a result you may want to hold out a bit longer on the refi. make sure that the deal at whatever rate you choose meets your financial objectives just incase you cant refi for whatever reason at the time that you initially projected.   

You can think about putting that into a high interest savings account or maybe an ETF to let it grow a bit, while you achieve 1&2, and continue to save.Your on the right track by asking questions.

Ways to mitigate the risk is to continue strong communication with contractors with weekly status updates.

That's not meant to dissuade you, this is a long term play - buy and hold!

play...

First, if you "sell it now" and then continue to do the work you put yourselves and your buyer at risk as you will be acting as an unlicensed contractor.

Our goal now is to take our learning materials and tools to continue our search for knowledge and gain experience working with mentors and other like minded individuals in the industry.