I believe Fannie/Freddie guidelines are that only the current balance/payment is counted towards DTI, while many lenders will have more stringent guidelines that could possibly count up to the maximum payment if the line of credit is fully utilized. 

I have good credit and was looking to put about 25% down on the property but any financing I tried to obtain they measured it as a risky investment for this reason (which ended up making sense once explained).

I’ve found Investing in Real Estate 7th Edition and What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cashflow and 36 Key Financial Measures to help me understand the concepts of analysis by leaps and bounds.

If all goes as planned on the numbers of MHP investing I plan to scale it up significantly so I want to measure twice, cut once on the software.   

I am not boasting/bragging but I am a bit offended that you would say such things to me when I seem to be having a nice measure of success in this business. 

The approval criteria/standards for a text amendment are often less stringent and easier to satisfy than the approval criteria for variations. 

I have used 3 different lawyers, several real estate agents and list goes on.I wish you all the success and prosperity in your venture... just make sure you measure twice then cut once!

Although you may find yourself frustrated with limitations of cash only growth and be tempted to leverage the cash assets - again not a problem in measured amounts as you said.The run up of your CA property has positioned you to take advantage of this right now which is a rare combination of events happening only in a small portion of a macro market cycle.  

The fact of the mater, I think it would take a minimum of 5 years of consistent persistent focused action as well as a measure of luck to come up with $1M when starting with little to nothing and working part time. 

Getting an FHA that you will be able to force value through with a rehab will be tougher because of the stringent guidelines.