This has been happening in Troy, Birmingham, Royal Oak, etc. for years now. 

We used a HELOC on our primary to purchase and begin renovations on a duplex nearby, and just this month closed on a fourplex that has a couple units rented, and a couple that need full demo/flip (which is now in progress).I'm taking some big swings and really having a blast doing it.

I've stabilized that hemorrhage and have made good progress to reducing this debt but a recent chat with a conventional lender didn't seem to yield any options due to the DTI issue. 

--Did you even stop to think this through?

However, for most investors, this isn’t always a practical option.

That is not what this post is about.

Just adding a little $0.02, outside of what he said, most banks are not going to be your friend when it comes to this type of construction, or any for that matter. 

You want to make sure you understand "seasoning period" in this case.

This should be 3-5 quotes for you to get an idea of the true number for fixing it. 

I'm hoping to do an FHA 203(k) within the first half of this year and eventually rent it out after living in it for about 2 years.