The other options you are playing with fire as using a HELOC that is paying interest is essentially buying with 100% financing.Having no skin in the game has always been a high risk strategy and people were able to get away with it the past few years due to the money supply and inflation but I would not use that as the measuring stick.

Typically you can get a window egress installed for $3k-5k.Not aware of a Metro Detroit city that will allow the conversion of a SFR to 2-4 units in an R1 zoned area.- You can improve your search by only looking in R2+ zoned areas.- Will still be challenging to acquire a SFR at a low enough price to justify the cost of any conversion.Regarding Michigan property taxes, we have a one-page explanation document we'll share if you DM us. - The challenge in Detroit is that the city is "deliberately" keeping SEVs low to not scare investors away over property tax increases.

This is my first purchase (don't want to do anything stupid) and the rents could swing 600/month depending on what I'm allowed to do in the basement - I'd be in the red from a cashflow perspective if I can't duplex them.Am I rolling the dice here / do you not typically find out for sure until you close and begin renovations?  

That's of course something you could get the PM to do.Regardless, I would expect to spend more time "managing the manager" than in a typical PM-owner situation. 

What we typically see is a contractor trying to act as a bully as most homeowners are push overs.

Due to personal faith based reason, I prefer to only invest in all cash deals that don't involve traditional financing (so typical passive RE options like syndications, RE funds with fixed returns, REITs etc are not a viable option for me).

Financial discipline is essential.

South East Texas should have a few experienced crews, so ask around locally or check reviews.One tip: make sure to prepare the new lot properly—things like leveling the ground and checking utility hookups are essential before the move.

It also doesn’t typically mean the overall premium goes down, as the other rating factors are increasing more and this tiny decrease is lost in the overall total.   

Typically it is asking too much for rent, but it could be your advertising is poor or your property is not in good condition for that area."