Well I'm not a lender or loan broker but I try to keep my ears open about loan products in Puerto Rico. 

Are there any potential risks or downsides I should keep in mind before proceeding?

Then we wholetail or flip it from there. 

Thinking about Italy or Sicily.  

Both properties have a substantial amount of equity that’s essentially sitting idle.Would it be a good idea to tap into this equity (through a HELOC, cash-out refinance, etc.) to fund future fix-and-flip projects or purchase additional rental properties?

I'll also want to have more reserves available the more properties I have.Am I oversimplifying or missing something? 

if you need $200K for a project, no one is going to loan you $200K - you need a down payment, holding costs, and you need to know what you're doing or you'll just turn that $200K into $150K.good luck

At the very least, let it run for a year or two and see how it goes.

Feel free to pm me or email. 

Every system you try will have flaws, or you may salivate over a feature that appears in other software.