Keep wasting your time then and looking at MLS deals ;) You can make more money and actually get deals going direct to the seller instead of this.

Use Real Estate By the Numbers as your guide, make sure it tracks the loan pay down and depreciation and have all of those numbers pour into a Schedule E.

Airbnb hosts have the ability to make a difference.

And the fact that it is his primary residence and there's all kinds of things that would make the IRS nervous.  

I'd say just start your search with all 2-4 unit properties, and when you find one where the numbers make sense and it checks your other boxes (somewhere you actually want to live and house hack), then it probably makes sense. 

We are starting the process of analyzing deals, making a plan and executing on it. 

Though DSCR gives you a better picture of how the property is projected to perform vs debt service, you can't rely solely on one measure to make a purchase decision. 

Can you make a higher return than what the interest rate on the HELOC?

The amount it is producing does play a big role in whether this is a wise move for you at this point, but before you make that decision, have you considered leveraging your business instead of selling it?

I have been working in real estate for 2 years. I've closed more than 110 deals in the last 26 months (remotely). If you have complicated leads, you're looking for advice, or you just want to connect, please hit me up.