Like wise you can pretend you're a potential tenant and call around to apartment complexes in the area about what their rent would be and what amenities are included.

I'm thinking this is one of the cheaper and more reasonable ways I can impose my taste on the rehab and pretend that it's not all about the money

If the deal is good (you MUST buy at the right wholesale price) it doesn't take much to find private money (not hard money pretending to be private) but true private investors. 

As a pretend investor, here is what I propose to you in return.

Pretend I know nothing.

Excellent credit, enough for down payment, but student loans have slaughtered my debt to income ratio.Could I finance an investment property by claiming that my intention is to live there, and then pretend to live there for several years?

(Except in most condos and townhomes.)The irs will pretend you’ve been taking depreciation when you sell even if you don’t.

There are a lot of pretenders in the CRE finance market that will promise you a lot, but can't deliver5.

Until the banks clear the wreckage off of their balance sheets and this "extend and pretend" crap ends the recovery will sputter.

Pretend like you are going to prequalify for a loan.