. - To buy smart because our income fluctuates wildly. 

Cops did a good job shutting the lady up. 

The owner is an old lady, probably the original owner, property tax is based on 106K.

She was an older lady, but she went to bat for me.

The lady we talked to didn’t allow us access to a computer or anything to look at The cases.  

@Jason Toledo Welcome to the wild west.

I started to get some contractor estimates which were wildly varied.

I have plans waiting for plan check but am getting wildly varying estimates.

Right now you feel like a failure but it is this whole situation that highlights everything in you that makes you a wildly successful businessman. 

The emotional value she has knowing that we own a rental property free and clear (cash flowing $1000/month) with no debt owed to anyone (aside from county taxes) trumps leveraging that asset to acquire additional properties.Thankfully, the cashflow from that asset and our other properties will enable us to save the 20% down payment on another SFH by the end of the year when the local market cools down a bit.your wife is a smart lady..... everyone should have something to fall back on.. also one thing to note and its rarely mentioned and of course i am not saying this is going to happen.. but when a market corrects Heloc's can get called or frozen.. so you want to be careful with those .. thinking they are a piggy bank you can always access.