I'm glad to hear it's working out :)@Ola Dantis That's an excellent point - at this point, I don't plan on carrying a balance unless an unexpected expensive repair comes up. 

Make sure you properly report your capital losses and carry them forward.  

The holder of the note makes no real difference; in Jane's case, it might be more advantageous to her to hold the note than sell outright depending on how she can absorb the sale from a tax perspective; in your case you don't have enough income to do a conventional loan so getting a seller carry can give you more properties.

You substitute a treasury bond yielding 16% with a coupon of 10% which you purchase for 60c on the dollar as collateral for the mortgage on the property with the mortgage that is carrying say 10% interest.  

Certain liens can carry over after a sale.

All this while carrying an eviction and several vacancies.

I don't want to carry any dogs in my portfolio.

Most banks that carry Fannie/Freddie loans have a seasoning period of 6 months which is a long when you have carrying costs. 

I know the big thing would be to factor that full heloc payment into your carrying costs equation. 

FSBO, expired leads, local homeowners)- Nurture your network consistently via phone, email, text, in-person events- Set as many appointments as you can to get in front of people and explain your value proposition... then go back to nurturing the contact until they have a question or need something from you- While doing all of the above, try to avoid/ignore the 'shiny objects' that are sold to agents on a daily basis.