Those are two very key components. 

Multifamily falls out of style - Cap Rates inflate.Yes, there are baseline economic relationships, but there is a psychological component.

I couldn't move in immediately (everything was very unexpected) so I needed a tenant.  

If this is no interest component, you need to impute interest. 

I'm looking at this, forstarters, from a tax point of view: if you have a mortgage then you can deduct "that" (= the non-principal components) from your rental income.

Maybe create a non-profit with the express goal of raising funds to bring the properties back... with some sort of low income housing component.

I mostly invest in older homes (1900-1920) so even if I do a big renovation I still expect there to be unexpected things which is why I budget 18-20% total

I've gotten several banks to initially okay HELOC offerings at 70% of loan to value, however, I don't think HELOCs are the right vehicle for me for several reasons. 1) The rate is variable. 2) The term is normally shorter than a refi, 3) There may be an unexpected balloon payment if you're not watching the draw period closely.

.* * *Legislative NoteThe legislative process has many unexpected twists and turns.

Bottom line though for a buy and hold investor Property tax's are an important component and all things being equal if your in non appreciating states. .Like Texas basically has been for ever and a day ( except Austin ) and the little bit of run up they have had..