Keep track of those costs this year, they come into play in 2025 when it's in service.

Now IF you have all those bases covered, my tips are: Take GREAT pictures and for the love of all that is holly please no close ups, wide angel pics.

A potential challenge with a HELOCs is they are based on the current appraised value of your home, not the improved value, so you would need to make sure you have enough accessible equity.

Columbus is going to be more of an appreciation play and cash flow margins will be tighter in the beginning. 

In playing with the numbers a bit, I'm seeing a trend of atleast 2% rent to price and (ideally) < 7% mortgage rate needed to achieve a decent cash on cash rate.

I think new investors who post here and take all the feedback as a whole, with a grain of salt, can really put it into play in real life and then discuss with investors at meetups in their area to get over the hump.

I never go off of a flat percentage on anything, I analyze the costs to get to a specific return I target and analyze the risk that is involved. 70% may be an initial metric to see if it is even worth pursuing, but every deal should be evaluated independently based on costs, time and risk involved.

Some lenders work with 220+ lenders and can really understand which lenders are best for you based on your situation. 

I’m based in Houston, TX, but I know how critical it is to find someone on the ground who’s a true investor ally, not just another agent.

You can't decide which one to choose based on the minimal information you provided.