Be sure to also determine the total expense of foreclosing if she can't refinance in time.

On the "down payment"its not your job to pay for their operating expenses, but its not their job to finance your project.happy middle is 2 phased-1.

Are these expenses recoverable in the event of redemption before completion of rehab?

The one you are thinking of using air B&B will have utility expenses.

Lili here, I am a first-time investor looking for a couple different things:1)  A house hack in or near the downtown area.2) Connections to real estate agents, contractors, etc. to start building a network and deciding on a strategy for my REI (wholesaling, BRRRR, etc.)I am a recent college grad (June 2018) with no debt, around ~$20k in savings, very low expenses, and I travel a good amount, so Airbnb can be an option as well.Any and all advice and recommendations are more than welcome!

At that price, I'm assuming you have some major rehab to do, but maybe not.Not an accountant, but from my own research if you use the IRA you need to have enough in that IRA to cover all the property expenses.

Per Rentometer.com the avg. 4 Bed Rent in that area is $1,443 and the median is $1,298. 

For a 5 bedroom, the total rent is estimated at about $2,434 median via rentometer.

Might be difficult and/or expensive to hire someone at the moment.

You shouldn’t be that tight in funds that a month is going to hurt your ability to pay the mortgage and expenses .