@Stephen Predmore my lender didn't say a specific amount. Reserves are going depend greatly on your own personal DTI. In my case, I have been house hacking since 2016- so not having to pay rent or cover a mortgage really helped my DTI.
The draw itself is relatively straight forward. Once you complete the work you request the funds to be drawn. It usually took 3-4 days from the time you request the draw until someone is sent out to verify the work. Once the inspector verifies the work is done at the cost of $200 they release the funds. The funds are wired to your account within 1-2 days.
Where I found issues is that: my contractor wanted some money upfront so I had to put a lot on my credit card and wait to reimburse myself, so I would recommend having working capital. I would also time the work/draw so that once my contractor was 80-90% done I would request it. Reason being is because, again it takes 3-4 days once you request the funds for someone to actually inspect it. So instead of waiting for the work to be 100% complete.... and then requesting money... I timed it so there was only a day or so in between.
Lastly, because it costs $200 (with my lender) every time you request a draw, I clumped a lot of line items together. For example- instead of requesting a draw for 10 new windows for $2,000. I waited for 10 windows, a new furnace and new flooring to be done: for a draw of $15,000 vs $2,000. I only did 3 draws throughout the rehab.
I had a GC and his team do the rehab- I did minor things (exterior yard work) in my free time.