there are not any lenders that will provide a HELOC on this scenario ….try  contact the present lender / servicer  for options on the current loan …….you might also contact you bank to see if they can provide an unsecured consumer type loan that  is better than what you are paying now

That data I becoming more and more accessible to consumers vs being hidden behind Realtor walls

But there were be fewer units and tenants to manage.

Between VRBO / Airbnb apps, automated templates, and your boots on the ground team it’s very easy and not very time consuming (once you get it going- initial setup on new properties can keep you a bit busy).The only requirement is having your phone on and with you 24/7 to quickly respond to inquiries & questions.

As for where to start, I would start by reading the BP forums, listen to BP podcast episodes and check out the beginner's guide here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...In my opinion, his methodology is helpful to people who have a lot of consumer debt (credit cards, personal loans, etc), but not all that applicable to real estate investors. 

Not many recent sales and fewer similar houses.

You should be basing your returns on a minimum 10% return on equity before you calculate any possible cash flow from the property itself.Attributing a return to your dead equity first will normally result in consuming all income from the property resulting in the property itself having negative cash flow.

You are building room in the backend of the note to cover your investor's entitlement while still making the money you're looking for up front.If you don't have a passive investor to sell to, then you're going to have to rethink your strategy here.Sidenote: If this loan is to a consumer at 12% interest, you might have what the CFPB calls a High-Cost Mortgage on your hands, in which, there's a lot more compliance to deal with.

Starting the lending and vetting process in advance can help you remove some of the time consuming, close delaying steps out of the way before you even find a property.Lastly, you can still be looking for a property while talking to lenders, you are going to have to go through a lot of properties to find the one which works for you.

If you name 3 or fewer properties then they can be worth anything - sell a property for $100K and name three $5 million properties.2.