After a month or so of getting the house ready, I've fallen in love with improving the home and managing everything the property needs.This leads to the main purpose of this post.

Capital Expenditures (10-15% of Income)Rule of Thumb: Reserve 10-15% of your income for capital expenditures (CapEx) like roof replacement, HVAC systems, or major renovations.Why: Regularly contributing to a CapEx fund ensures you have the cash on hand for significant improvements or replacements, preserving the value of your properties.5.

Target areas with companies aggressively hiring college graduates, your rental pool will improve.

It varies by situation, but a couple decent benchmarks are if it improves your rate by 1% or more, or you recover the refi costs in two years or less.

As for the HELOC, the more I research the more it matches your comment regarding using it for home improvements / flips so I may sit on that for a little bit until I educate myself further on those topics.As for raising capital, I have read the private lenders are a popular way and hard money loans which I do not fully understand yet.

Successfully turned 80% of rent roll from $650 rents to $1150 and drastically improved the NOI.

Among other things, these provisions prohibit the DST from doing things like making substantial capital improvements, refinancing, raising additional capital, and other things that are typical in real estate operations.This limits what DSTs can invest in and dictates how they must be structured. 

Even if you purchased the investment property first, at least you would have the cash flow & equity of your investment property (wouldn't recommend purchasing at market value in this market) to improve your financial profile and increase your chances of being qualified for a primary residence loan, instead of the other way around.

Additionally, strong credit, a solid track record in similar projects, and a well-detailed plan for the rehab can also improve your chances of securing favorable financing terms.

I should just give up on the pursuit of self-improvement and fall in line, so I don't hurt peoples' feelings and make their childhood trauma of feeling discredited and unheard flare up."