The point of making money is to increase the quality of your life.

You can do a subject to (although I've never heard of doing this with a HELOC) and there are a few risks to them and since the loan stays in place and the seller's name thereby stays on the mortgage despite selling the property, it will take some effort to gain a seller's confidence to do such a thing.You can read more about them here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2016-07-03-subject-to-rea...

Do you increase the rent by strictly calculating the increases in your insurance, taxes and etc ?

If we can increase our buyer demographics we'll likely see time on market drop by 80-90%.  

Any thoughts of increase visibility for a rental property in Virginia?

As you increase in size and wealth, this becomes more valuable.

See if they might be willing to increase their offer slightly or cover some closing costs.

Although still rare, some of these duplexes are now coming with impact windows, which further lowers your insurance and increases storm protection, so this may be something else to look into.

Rent appreciation also tends to be higher and cash flow tends to be much better over time as rents increase more steeply, but it may take several years to spin off positive cash flow as opposed to right away.

Additionally, the property is strategically positioned within a larger development vision, which includes building 12 patio homes and two duplexes on adjacent land, further increasing the long-term value and income potential of the investment.