Here’s a quick overview of potential pros and cons, along with general advice on working with hard money lenders like them.Pros:Flexible Financing Options: Rehab Financial Group often specializes in real estate investing and provides hard money loans for BRRRR deals, which may be a good match for your needs.Quick Funding: Hard money lenders like Rehab Financial can sometimes offer quicker access to funds compared to traditional banks, which is important for BRRRR investors looking to move fast on properties.Cons:Higher Interest Rates: Hard money lenders usually charge higher interest rates than traditional financing sources.

It’s important to ensure you’re comfortable with these risks and consult a financial advisor.If you choose to use a HELOC, consider traditional financing or private loans as alternatives if you prefer not to risk your home.As for your first rental, markets in the Midwest and Southeast offer great opportunities with turnkey properties that are tenant-ready and appreciating.

Keeping some savings/reserve was important. 

More importantly why don’t you send money to TripAdvisor, Fairbnb, or booking.com?  

Good luck with the team-building :) that is the most important phase, without which, growth and scalability will be hard to achieve!

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the Cape Coral/fort Meyers area, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

What are the other important parts of having an investment property?

The most important thing on your first deal is to keep the risk low.

I think the most important however, is to check for honesty.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history very important!