I'm looking to do a gut rehab on a 2-3 unit property in the next 6-12 months and am in the process of selecting my team.

I self manage my units so my views are more related to the actual work of property management rather than communicating results to property owners.The most important factor in successful property management is not a personal quality or trait, it's having EFFECTIVE processes in place to support the business.

Looking online is better than nothing, but selected pictures never tell the full story. 

-Landlord reserves all rights to reject any or all applicants that does not meet the selection criteria set by the landlord.

It will be a more cost effective rate than a Heloc.

What types of funding structures have you found most effective for scaling your real estate portfolio?

If you are to the point where you are feeling the effects of too many personal loans, you will start seeing the ability to qualify with a conventional product becoming more difficult.

What advice would you offer to someone with no experience to date with rentals in terms of selecting the best location to look for properties? 

That, a few podcasts, a few select books, and a couple of subscriptions choke full of info material (less than 100$/month), maybe a couple mentorship programs (for less than 2K/year), and a lot of action on your part and you'll be a lot better than paying $$K for "gurus".To rephrase, do you have more money than you know what to do with or an urgent need to get it to work for you, together with a lot of time on your hands ready to take massive action?

For help with the section-8 process, it's very important to have a PM that's familiar and connected with the HUD programs in the selected market.