I'm not too hung up on this, because the margins still appear very attractive (from what the agent speculated ARV). my hesitancy stems from a lack of experience and direct steps/plan of action to take on a property I like. 

Would help if you stated what questions you had so people could reply right away.I have knowledge on HELOANs but not direct experience.

I'm going to find out myself on Thursday when I go directly to the city because I already got confirmation from the building inspector that inspected my jadu about being able to add a 2nd unit (adu).

I have actually envied some of the numbers i see there but dont know enough about that market and am not ready to start investing in that direction yet.

He did a good job but looking back on it now I think I could've done alot better with more insight and direction How did you finance this deal?

Might pay the appraiser direct or something, but any lender fees have to be on a HUD-1.

That said, I am still on VRBO, GVR, BDC and direct.  

Also, any guides, info, or direction would be awesome. 

As part of his investment of capital into scaling, he hired a marketing firm specializing in SEO, SEM, social media, direct email, etc.  

Unlike REITs, direct real estate provides control over management decisions and the ability to leverage financing for higher returns.