Diversifying your portfolio can reduce risk and potentially increase overall returns.Opportunity Cost-You might miss out on potential opportunities to leverage your equity and acquire more properties, especially in a market where finding cash flowing properties is challenging.Pursue a 1031 ExchangePros:Portfolio Expansion-A 1031 exchange allows you to diversify and increase your investment portfolio by acquiring multiple properties.

so the way you do it is : buy/rehab primary-->rent it out -->collect lease -->HELOC it---->apply primary with showing the lease so DTI reduced-->continue or sell after 2 years , you can mix/match between the two, basically for every primary, your job is to make sure you have Dscr>1.0 and keep moving.

My largest concern is the ability to reduce vacancy.

Depreciation: For investment properties, you can depreciate the property over a set period, reducing your taxable income.5. 1031 Exchanges: This allows you to defer capital gains tax by reinvesting the proceeds from a sale into a similar property.Feel free to ask any questions or share your own experiences!

This would reduce the chances of overrunning their budget, verify work before the next draw and verify permits.

I think you have good down side protectio—reduced rent from living there and the land value. 

The rationale being you are reducing your personal housing costs as the rented unit will be covering some of the costs. 

Get the plaster tested for asbestos.If renovations significantly reduce your profit margin, wholesaling the property to a more experienced investor might be more viable. 

When you're ready to purchase a seller concession can be a good way to reduce the cash to close and amount of equity you need to borrow against the primary.

Once you get to around $14k you're going to scale up to $37% but you can deduct half the expenses and depreciation which will reduce your taxable amount of income..again without knowing the income this is not possible to calculate.