This would make it into two, two bedroom units with the intent of making them long term rentals.I'm guilty of having a lot of projects going at once so my focus right now is bringing the cottage to a point to refinance out of the private money and either make it our primary residence for a year for the financing perks or to go straight into a short term rental.With the four bedroom house I'm trying to decide if it's worth splitting into two units or if I should keep it a four bedroom rental.The cottage I'm also tempted to do mid term with to lower the turnover and maintenance but open to suggestions.The third property I'll probably just let the current renters pay the mortgage for the time being if I'm able to acquire it anytime soon.

It is a business though so be prepared to work but the ceiling is very high. 

Not every off-plan project is a surefire win; some are overhyped, and others don’t live up to expectations once completed.

The Bayfront project and University make West Chula Vista interesting.

For example, their rent is $2000, they pay me $1000, I then apply the $1000 to the renovation project, which they estimate to be around $8,000.How should I write up the lease agreement as far as collecting the rents?

You can basic info on short term rental projections and occupancy rates with a free account, but will have to purchase a membership to get detailed info. 

In the end it's my responsibility to forecast any big projects that may happen in the next few years and make sure I'm covered for those.

Just ensure that the projected rental income comfortably covers the new payments, including the HELOC.

All this fancy mumbo fha guideline gumbo means is that your projected market rents assuming all units, if it were rented Times 75% need to be greater than what your monthly payment is  (PITIA = principal/interest/taxes/insurance/assessments monthly), other wise FHA will not lend at that loan amount so common solutions to this when rents are too low in your local market are to put more money down payment which defeats the whole purpose of low 3.5% down FHA doesnt it?

They then use their new knowledge and skills to take on bigger projects which they then BRRRR to scale more aggressively.I don't know a lot about North Carolina but I know there's investors there seeing great success.