I am seeing more and more investors having difficulty selling their property and refinancing them since they are highly over leveraged. 

I aim to refinance the loan under conventional investment terms to avoid the high interest rates associated with hard money loans.With an excellent credit score, securing a loan shouldn't be a challenge.

While you definitely have more control, its a different set of headaches.

There were about $9K in back HOA fees due but the profit margin was so high that was no big deal. 

I'll definitely check it out! 

Now that it's a rental the home barely cashflows due to expenses and the high mortgage.

If you decide to move forward with them I highly suggest you alert them to the fact that you will be recording all phone conversations, and do just that.

There are a few definite rules I follow when evaluating deals, as well as vetting sponsors/GP’s.

This is more a B- class neighborhood.I plan on doing a remodel of the kitchen including new countertops, range and hood, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher; the cabinets are actually in solid shape and hardwood so I would like to keep them, but they definitely need to be stained and will also be adding hardware on them.

It will almost definitely be more expensive and take longer than you anticipate, and those HMLs aren't cheap.