Buying first property using primary home HELOC

[Joshua Walker]

I looking at buying my first rental property using a HELOC from my primary home and need some advise as to the steps I should take. First a little about the property; Its and a 1100 sq ft 2 bed 1 bath single family house that is currently rented for $550.00 per month. The current owner is willing to sell it for $35,000. It's a wood frame house on pillars that needs some fixing up, but overall nothing major. If I use my HELOC to purchase the property out right, how do I make sure the title is clear, should I get a new appraisal or use the appraisal the current owner has that is a couple of years old. Is there any thing else that I should have done that would normally be done when financing through a bank that I'm not thinking of to help protect my investment.

My overall plan is to make some repairs and try to bring the value up as much as possible so I can get the rent up and refinance the house to get the money I took out of my HELOC back so I can invest in other properties.