Where can I go to borrow money to give the contractor in order to get the project started?

Plenty of people in here started out as small fish, and worked their way up to being whales.

I'm  getting started in this journey of equity partners.

There could be a contested title (unknown heir, brother/sister disagree on selling the property, taxes due claims by state as a result of passing, IRS, so on,) at this point.It will likely take one of the heirs to get organized, start the process to become the personal representative/executor and petition the court.

If the name of the game is "be the biggest idiot," it's ok to lose and let someone else "win."

This obviously puts us in a tight spot as we have work scheduled to start soon and need the loan to finance the rehab.My question for lenders is, can her Mom take out a home equity loan on the inherited property of which she is listed as a lifetime estate tenant without the consent of my girlfriend (co-owner)?

It would really suck to lose money and also have to pay taxes. 

If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general.

Investing in a syndication or fund could be a good fit given your situation.I started investing in some fix and flips and some smaller residential properties from traditional BRRRs.

@Karolina PowellA great way to start is by having a property manager tour the property with you.