The current interest rate peaked our interest to refinance and remove my name from the current mortgage for potential investment opportunities.

It's a good life practice to never have an important part of closing being dependent on the speed of government agencies. 

I was slow because I thought I had to kiss the banks butt and save a pile of money at first , now that I understand creative finance persuasion negotiation etc I can move and build a portfolio in breakneck speed .

Your understanding of the finance side will really determine your the speed of your portfolio growth.

You might actually find a tenant earlier than you mentioned and can decide whether or not to speed up the rehab.

@Crystal Smith I've heard that I may be able to speed things up a bit by getting a demo permit first, while architect works on drawings that will ultimately be submitted with the building permit application.

If you never had it in the first place, then you wouldn't have any CF from the $0 DP house because you couldn't have bought it.Your argument is like two trains going at different speeds, to two different places, and trying to decide which one you should take based on getting there first. 

Not really sure what your point is though.My point is, mainly for the OP to consider, that many of these areas you can "throw a rock" at still haven't recovered from their peak real dollar value back in 2005- despite the tailwind of a massive bull market in the last 8 years.

The way you speed up construction is that the contractor needs to finish a task in order to bill the owner.

They are great, inexpensive, and offer a heating element, multiple flame colors and speeds with the click of a button on the remote and they look sexy in the living room or even master bedroom.