Is this implying that these markets are now greater in supply than demand and are thus reducing in value?

As a male (as your name implies) you may be able to exploit some gender bias due to most closers being female, however, my experience has been that generally women are often more effective closers due to their natural ability to multitask.  

Were you implying your realtor wanted you to put new cabinets in so he could earn an extra 3% on the difference if you didn't have cabinets?

I am by no means implying that you should not look to invest elsewhere, but beware that "the grass is always greener on the other side."

If I may ask who was your trainer?

That's not the end of the world but I don't want to take a hit on my own investment if the mortgage-ability changes after I buy it.I hope I wasn't giving misinformation-I didn't mean to imply the FEMA zones are perfect predictors, for me it was just an eye opener that rivers could trigger a worse score than things closer to the beach.

A passive activity doesn't imply there is no work.

The zoning issues for this might be for setbacks as suggested in an earlier post - but I would expect that zoning would be more concerned with the added impervious surface area, and the additional water run-off that implies. 

The key is really the implied return vs the projected cash on cash, as you'll start to see some deals that are clearly better than others.  

Even on a HELOC the most they might do is reduce your line if you wind up going over 80% LTV/CLTV (80% being de rigueur for HELOCs)20% LTV is different still... that would be in the lines of a 20k loan on a 100k property implying you have 80% equity.