You didn't think about there life, where there motives will shift too, what comes next 1, 2, 5 years down the road. 

The theory is sound.

While the math per door is roughly the same, my thought is that I will have more doors still rented while I renovate one, and the overall costs for maintenance is roughly the same. 

Yes the dog crashed the car into a tree.

Eric,, I think why people go for the fund model is the idea that they are spreading their money into multiple notes being held by the company.. while in theory this is great but as you noted you don't really have any security compared to being the beneficiary of the debt instrument IE debt is in your name. 

Question- do I keep the heloc I have and just pay it down or do I get a heloc on the rental property to pay off current heloc and go forward with another property? 

If so, how was the experience ? 

The interest rate on a HELOC or Heloan may be better than the personal loan. 

When you look them up make sure the owner isn't a LLC and that there primary address is not the same as the property you where looking at.

Are there any caps on pass-through expenses?