We are building a place with HELOCs then after it is built we will finance it and pay off our HELOC, at least thats our plan. 

I don't think you will get anyone to loan you money on tax liens/deeds. 

Just a heads up this will not be tax free, it will be a pro-rated exclusion.

@Will Greenlee there is no perfect PM software, unfortunately.We use one of the most flexible, but it has a long learning curve and we'd still like to see many improvements.

@Jordan Miller most Class A & B rental properties bought since 2021 really don't cashflow from day one.Class B will take 1-3 years to start showing cashflow.Class A, 3-5 years.Current investors keep making the mistake of looking back at deals from 5-10 years ago when prices & interest rates were both a lot lower, but NOT rental rates.

@Andrae S Wiggins recommend you upgrade your BP membership to Pro to access the BP Calculators to evaluate rental purchases.Play with the numbers to figure out the purchase price that gives you your target ROI.That's the number you'll need to make an offer at, NOT what the seller is asking.Yes, you will get a lot of rejects, but whoever said investing was easy?

I know that my current cash flow is a result of the unit being my primary residence first, and that not all units will cash flow like this, but can't help the feeling that I should be expanding my rental portfolio over the years.

Your ROI will be underwhelming.

They copy us on their response to the owner, that the property needs a LOT of work done before they will manage it.A decent amount of owners never accept responsibility for their mistakes:(

Most times when evaluating a DSCR mortgage, market rent will come into play.