I am not too kin to pay it all before the renovation work has been completed and have negotiated to keep 15% to be paid when renovation work has been completed, so that the seller has an incentive to complete the work adequately.

They will move on and look for the next person who isn't smart enough to figure out what they are up to.It's highly likely that if there was a claim on your own policy it may not be covered if it was being sublet for a separate commercial purpose (AirBnB, etc)... so I would be really careful about making sure you are covered insurance-wise.Proceed at your own risk, and all the best!

If you don't have any specific recommendations, I'd still love to connect over coffee so I can learn more about your business.

If so does the cash out reset the loan to the original amount or does it increase it to include the value of the new unit (i.e. original loan was 300k and after cash out it becomes 550k?)

I attached a pic of their signature below so you can have their contact info. 

That is a very general question and each area has its own market conditions so what works well in one area may not in another.

This is a great place to learn and to connect with people so take advantage of all the great resources.

So now I'm selling it . . 

Between 2023-25, 1800 new apartments are being/have been built so just keep that in mind when thinking through your strategy. 

Nice :) Learned a bunch and made $3,500 doing so!!