I like the idea of a hold back until the punchlist is complete, but that doesn't prevent an unscrupulous contractor from stealing the initial deposit...

First, please do NOT think you're going to generate enough cashflow to live off of within 3-5 years. 

In Vermont, LLC formation fees and annual report costs can add up.A good friend of mine, Jason, started with five doors and used a single LLC for his properties initially.

However, vacancy means covering 100% of the expenses.Multifamily properties almost always generate higher cash flow due to multiple income streams, which also reduces the risk of vacancies.

Through connections with people in various markets, I was able to establish short-term rentals internationally, manage properties in different states, and diversify my investments in a way I hadn’t initially planned.A lot of these opportunities came from contacts I made over time.

This is relevant for multiple reasons 1) appreciation is where the real wealth is generated in RE 2) real estate has tax advantages over cash flow 3) in CA property tax increase is capped.  

I wanted to build up his team, I wanted to help bring him work, I wanted to help in sales and lead generating and buy into his companies LLC.. but even that was fraudulently represented as  In the beginning he had represented himself as someone who had a team in house around 60 people, with vehicles, trailers, tools, lawnmowers, weed wackers, nail guns.. the works.

K-1 losses, generated through depreciation and cost segregation, can often offset distributions during the hold period, minimizing taxable income.

What you would want to evaluate is the income generated from the income-producing property(s) to see if the income from your rentals would cover the cost of your new HELOC payment.

STRs specifically have supercharged our passive income goals and cut down our initial goal of a 10 yr run to get where we want to be in half.