Lenders will lend at significantly lower LTV's, particularly for the unentitled land and the buyer of the land will usually have to front all of the design related fees (civil, architectural, structural, MEP). 

After that, the fixes took 2 more months to complete, leading me to miss the hight of the rental market, and the home ended up sitting for 5 months total.So I've got lost rent, and they've finally offered to cover the cost of the rehab (though they're still going after tenants for that $$).

@Daniel Loane “Closing cost” should be better defined but it definitively won’t include any lender related fees.  

The strategy is more often talked about relative to active investors, however with the right approach, passive investors are able to capitalize on a cost segregation study as well.Let’s start off with discussing what a cost segregation study is.

Related with Brooklyn chandler Willy from Texas Financial Advisory  in San Antonio.

but it sounds like you know a lot of what you DON'T want; what you do want is the opposite. if you're going to do your next project alone, it sounds like you want a LTR nearby that's relatively turnkey without any problem-tenants. you can do a 'lazy 1031' where you just sell traditionally & in the same calendar year buy the new property, while working with your cpa to figure out how to offset the tax bill. you could alternatively partner with an active investor on your next deal; that way you could invest in what could be a higher cashflow market compared to where you live, and not have to invest much time (since it sounds like you guys don't have as much time to spend on this now). 

This HELOC would cover both down payment and rehab costs, if needed.

Renting initially at $1,500 wouldn't cover the estimated $1,700 mortgage, resulting in a monthly negative cash flow.

Or, a charging order may be granted.If you're going the umbrella insurance route, perhaps see if it will cover you for several things including just the routine slip and fall (like mold or earthquake).

I'd tell em to pound sand for your health