Because it looks shady to most sellers, in a variety of ways. 

In a city like Philly, you will face many challenges - you need to learn the market and know the neighborhood and the block and make sure all of your numbers are within reason, you need very reliable contractors, you need a to understand the permit process, you need to be familiar with market expectations. 

You might be able to find something in a neighbouring state to the east which is within driving distance.

having a HELOC to have an emergency line is smart since if you really need it in a crunch you could draw funds within 1-2 days or less in most cases.

Example - borrower uses loan to purchase a home in a B or C grade neighborhood for 380k, spends 50k rehabbing primary home, uses 200k to put an ADU in the back, appraisal comes back at 925k. 

I manage over 60 units in a competitive market (Tampa). 

Now.75% would be very good in a lot of markets although you can hit the 1% in some markets.

Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.

So I'm looking at only paying $600 a month to live in a house and build equity!

I currently live in a 3-bedroom, 3-bath townhome about half a mile from Texas A&M's campus, which I plan to rent out once I move into the new home.