Financing Strategy Ideas for 2 Condo units within short timeframe

[Jeff Bridges]

I have decided to dive head first into a rental property with a strategy to landlord for long term.

My strategy was to start with a condo apartment, gain experience and proceed in buying more units later on, however 2 good opportunities landed on my plate and I want to see if I could close on both properties in a short timeframe.

I have a bank accepted short sale unit in contract for 40k and a 54k short sale unit also in contract but pending bank approval (had prior pre-approval at the price). Each unit has potential to generate 5-7k annual after-tax net cash flow, which seems worth my while.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to finance both of these projects especially given the short timeframe that they might close within one another. I have mortgage approval, but its only realistic to close on one unit at a time and given the short timeframe between both closings, my lender (or any other) wont support both projects simultaneously.

I was considering paying cash for the 40k unit (from savings), either a month after (or 6 months seasoning), getting a penfed HELOC with no closing costs for 4.75% and getting back all if not an additional 10k out for future potential purchases (assuming this meets 80% of the appraisal value)
This would allow me to use my conventional 5% 30yr non-owner financing for the more expensive 54k property with 20% down (from cash savings), and leaving the financing at that... (conventional on one/ HELOC on the other)
Don't have enough cash to buy both outright and then obtain HELOCs for each, which appears better since the HELOC has no closing costs while traditional mortgage does.

Does this seem like the best strategy for leveraging and not keeping too much money tied into both units? Is there a way to have even less equity tied into the 54k property for future potential purchases such as also getting HELOC? I understand that one should ideally have 5-10k equity left in each property after financing. any other possible suggestions on making the financing work for both units and keeping original cash investment low?