On the other hand, a home equity loan gives you a lump sum with fixed payments, which is more predictable and great for one-time expenses like consolidating debt or buying a rental.

Do you watch all the Fix Up to Flip programs on TV and Youtube videos?

There is typically not a huge difference between a 5/1 ARM and a fixed rate, so I would look for the latter.

Have someone who doesn't live in the home walk through and itemize the things that need to be fixed or improved.

I don't aggressively increase rents if a tenant's current rent is within the turn cost / 12.For example, if you need to replace flooring, paint, and fix up a few things... your turn cost might be $5-7k

Have a good group of people on the ground who you can call to fix things when something comes up. 

Possibly fix furniture, etc if needed too.

I was told to take out hard money loan and than told it not bad just would be better option to only use on  fix and flips. 

For a first property I’m hoping to avoid a heavy rehab so light cosmetic fixes and likely will be low if any cash flow as it’s mostly an appreciation market.

This will be a fix/flip project.