The only thing I would say is how does it compare to a deal not driven by your friend... just to vet the quality of the deal. 

In regards to collecting rent I would just have them continue sending checks (I imagine this is what they were doing); it really does not take much time to deposit a check compared to the training required to teach a possibly technology illiterate person how to; create accounts, link accounts and pay rent.

When I spoke with my "go to" broker, he warned my that it may be difficult to find a lender for an investment property because of the new FHFA guidelines.He did find a lender, but the interest rate on the 30 year note is 4% with nearly $1,000 in additional closing fees compared to what I usually pay. 

Other numbers: comparable rent (~1000 per month), total monthly cost of condo (~1250 per month), I make around $3083 per month pre-tax.I tried the NYT Buy-vs-Rent but it doesn't include keeping the property after I buy.

@Brett Schmidt normally I would recommend 30 but your return will be much higher with the 85% LTV loan most likely compared to 75%.

I've come across a couple investment groups that are very gung ho about HELOCs, and while they do provide much more flexibility in payment compared to a traditional mortgage they're certainly not the silver bullet that some make them out to be.

However, the difference compared to last year is abysmal.

It’s also advantageous compared to many other investments due to the fact that it depreciates over time, which can help you preserve wealth.

But, to show how useless it is, I could easily do a few cash out refis and have negative cash invested to have a portfolio wide infinite COC.)My main point was try comparing ROI or RoE it’s more “compatible”. 

I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to find a new tenant fairly quickly as the rent is around 10% below the median for comparable apartments in the area.