People always say there's no value but that's not for you to determine.

Your depreciable basis is determined by your purchase price and expenses, not the seller’s loan balance.

Before making any decision, I would get a customized property evaluation by a local Realtor to determine the value of the property on both sides of the spectrum; sale OR rental. 

One thing to be aware of is the FHA multifamily self-sufficiency calculation which determines if a property can generate enough rental income to cover its mortgage payments.

One question that I'm pondering is, even with the positive growth, how do I determine rental demand in the area?

Sometimes when examining the entire capital stack, its determined the higher finance charges paired with higher leverage is a winning proposition but only experienced real estate investors should be making that call. 

I'd say start the process of securing your HELOC if you havn't done so and spend time analyzing deals and determining what type of investor you are looking to be. 

My client had some things come up that prevented her from executing, but these were some of the options I had put together for her, a regional bank, a regional CU, and a national bank.Reminder that NOI sizes CRE debt, and that's often what determines the down payment requirement, not anything to do with the client or particular lender, just the property itself.

For a senior to qualify for Medicaid, there is a 5-year "look-back" period for determining their assets. 

How much is yet to be determined.