It ended up taking two or three months to finally get the appraisal but they only had to pay $500 for the appraisal.

@Astrit Bauta, regarding your final comment of the original post: why would a general partner go through all of the trouble of sourcing a deal, putting together an offering, executing on the project, etc without being compensated?  

We have been in all types of living situations from section 8 to my mom finally owning our first house.

Finally the str question.

I suspect repairs will take 12 months and I will need 2 years to get the tenants to leave. not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze but the ability to project year over year costs, improvement work and the final refi must be out there in someone's excel folder. or am I over complicating things? 

. - Finally, I called my own inspections and eventually got the final Green tag!

(5) and finally, do you all have recommendations for loan agents / officers who can help us think through what would be the optimal path for us given our situation?

I think you have a good hand of cards on this if all you state is accurate.One final note, if you have photo or video evidence of the condition of the unit upon starting, that too is one more feather in your cap.

We've got a tenant who we got evicted finally after being almost $4,000 behind. 

Also – side note, I have been a bigger pockets fan for 3 years now and it has motivated my wife and I to FINALLY purchase our first investment property last year.