Then if he does in fact get out, we will have a place to live, and if he chooses to stay in, we will have met the occupancy requirement and we could just rent from there and move wherever. 

You are choosing the latter scenario if you never take action to change your trajectory. 

(Note: rent would cover PITI with $2K going to P and an additional couple hundred to spare per month not accounting for maintenance.)Obstacles/Questions: no construction experience and builders are currently asking top dollar; not sure if partnering is an option (not a request, just wondering if it is a valid option); what might be the financing options of whatever route we choose (e.g., HELOC on our current house, construction loan, etc.) with goal of being in a decent cash flow position preferably in a couple of years. 

Since my parents could not pay for my education I had to choose Scotland, because the education there is funded by the government.

Again, thanks for your concerns, but PLEASE, let me set my settings according to the way I use the site rather than some arbitrary rules choosing for me.

Those are the guys who have done 100s of profitable deals and have lots of connections and reputation.

That person might even be able to give you the name of a reputable PM in the area and you can go from there.

1:Without knowing the details, I would probably choose to simply get a HELOC on the new property as soon as possible.  

Do you have reputable contractors giving you prices?

I choose the former?