Also, cash flow unpredictable as owner often pays for oil.

It's an unpredictable curve ball to the dialogue on the market cycle.  

Your initial plan may be doable although highly stressful when dealing with ongoing unpredictable costs you have no savings to cover.

Even with great planning, life can tend to be somewhat unpredictable.

cashing out as a regular refinance is usually the best bet after you've done your math to make sure you can still cash flow for 1; secondly you need to keep your debt to income ratios in line.A heloc is flexible in it's use but is typically interest only payments for the first 10 years and then converts to principal and interest thereafter for another 20 years. in that first 10 years the rate is not fixed, so it can be unpredictable and the qualifications are about the same as a regular refinance.Rates for cash out on your primary will be current market rates plus a little hit for taking cash out.

Great response.Interest rates are COMPLETELY unpredictable.

I do short sales and REO's, all quick flips in this unpredictable market.Maybe we could get together on something?

Should we avoid these old homes (that make up a large part of our market) due to unpredictable and potentially expensive maintenance costs?

I've been looking on AirDNA since i posted this and it seems like useful info for revenue research.At the end of the day, the rental income will always be somewhat unpredictable i guess until the listing goes live.  

Basically it makes us feel 'comfortable'... if that word is allowed to be used to describe real estate investing.However, for out of state, we find ourselves feeling helpless with what we view as unpredictable markets (fluctuating values, and therefore fluctuating equity positions), long vacancy times (in the Springs, our houses get rented in a week or two, max), and of course, not being able to stop in and physically check out the property and talk with the tenants to mitigate any of their concerns (without having to play telephone through the PM).Basically what I am getting at, is that I am not sure if I just have rose-colored glasses with Colorado Springs due to it being a hot market at this point in time (and when we entered the market), or if others feel the same way in that Colorado Springs has a lot to offer in terms of it having a stable (and foreseeably strong) economy, decent price/rent ratios, and all around good investment potential for a long-term view.