I have the opportunity to buy a duplex in a great location that needs a lot of work to be nice, though it appears to be structurally sound and both sides are currently being lived in.

The seller has offered to sell it as-is for a great cash price. (It's been on the market a long time and they're behind on property taxes so I think the just want rid of this inherited property) I spoke with a hard money lender who is willing to put up about half of the money which leaves me with enough cash to completely remodel both sides. Technically, they will buy the property and lease it back to me for two years at which point I will pay them back and they will transfer the title into my LLC. The terms are 6% initial fee at closing and 15% interest-only payments (because it's a smaller loan amount than they normally deal with). There's no prepayment penalty after the first year. The cash price discount more than covers the cost of the hard-money loan. I plan on living in one side while remodeling it (I've done this before) and leave the other side rented until I'm ready to rehab the other side. The duplex is in a location that I am planning on moving to regardless of whether I buy the duplex. The rent from the side I'm not living in will cover the interest payments on the hard money loan (and like I said, the cash price offsets the cost anyways. I have enough self employment/passive income to provide for my living expenses AND enough money to pay back the hard money loan working <10 hours/week. In other words, the loan is small relative to my income so I have little concern about being able to pay it off in 2 years or less.

Obviously, I am going to have the house inspected and the hard-money lender is doing their due diligence. I've remodeled houses before and am very handy (I'm a mechanical engineer by trade) and I will actually enjoy doing the work. In the end, I will have built about $100k in forced appreciation for my 6 months of work and will be living in a place that I really want to be. Even if I move out, the rental numbers on the house look great. The neighborhood is exploding with new construction and renovations and duplexes are rare in the area so it's unlikely I'd be able to find another duplex or even be able to afford the neighborhood at all in the future. The duplex fits with all of my other life goals as well. Does this sound like a smart move or am I crazy?

Edit: seller is not willing to finance and bank financing is not possible neither is a personal loan. I don't have any other accessible cash besides asking family, which I don't want to do