Yet if the numbers were to far exceed the proforma, you can bet they wouldn't be willing to give you any of that money back. :-)I wonder if you could take another actual cabin and do a 5 year example of ownership on the actuals for that cabin and then put that those numbers can't be used as a guarantee for any other cabin's future returns. 

Commercial is your best bet (rates are actually closer to 7-8%) or you can have a loan against your other assets such as brokerage, retire accounts, or a group LOC for your other properties.

Might not be 100% safe but it seems like a pretty sure bet

Virginia requires a professional license, not necessarily an attorney- a title insurance company, RE Broker, or financial institution might help you.As to your in progress HELOC you have another problem- if the lender does any physical or interior inspection they won't lend to you.

Also, is the only way to invest in other states by hiring a property manager, since its not possible to be there physically?

I am going to go a bit off topic here...I have been thinking about purchasing a rowing machine for a while now and this thread, and thinking about how much my physical activity has gone down in the last year (since I left the Air Force), is making me think about it even more.

The seller has agreed to let us out of the contract but does not agree that we should receive our earnest money back because he says he is able to bet everything damaged and stolen repaired and replaced before closing.   

If they can't physically be there, then they can give the vendor permission to enter the home without them present.

I have a half dozen years of experience renting out a few single family homes and am looking to bet big in a different market.

I placed a few bets in those over the past few years, so we'll see.