Your best leads will come from your "sphere", and you can chase your tail for a long time with these lead services that prey on realtors like us. 

I've seen too many people who appear healthy, working their tails off and then they deteriorate way too young and never get to even enjoy "retirement age" (regardless of whether they actually retire or not).Based on what I've read here (on BP forums) and after speaking to family/friends we decided to grow our investment portfolio further.

Lease option wholesaling, owner financing, whole-tailing, etc.

Is ANYONE doing non-owner occupied HELOC's in Los Angeles or am I chasing my tail?

Sounds like your property is on the tail end of that storm. 

I'm not saying the city isn't right on this matter, I'm just saying don't tuck your tail and run right away, educate yourself on the matter.        

Like anything else, a company built to do one thing is going to be more efficient than an individual trying to do it once or twice; a professional mechanic is going to fix eight cars in the time it take a first-time car owner to replace a tail light and change the oil.

There was a time in the 70s the nation was in massive recession but due to mainly defense spending SoCal was still very bullish and prices doubled while the rest were in a tail spin, especially places like NYC were looking very bearish.

Would it make sense to renovate on the tail end of the deal?

I'm at the tail-end of a redevelopment of a Washington, DC townhouse that will be listed for ~$1.5M.