@Pat Kumparatana   I think 95% of the guru type companies have their roots firmly planted in MLM.. and use a variation of it..

The self-directed variations allow for investment into alternative assets such as real estate, just as a self-directed IRA would.

I was skimming through and seeing a lot of solid advice above.As someone who is still fairly fresh to rentals, going into my 2nd year and 2nd 4-unit, I'm happy to share something that has worked REALLY well for me, in weeding out a large amount of low-quality renters.I started out by just posting a listing and doing showings and apps as the calls/emails came in... and like the trouble you're having... you can often get a lot of under-qualified applicants coming though.Something I stumbled into, and others do some variation of this, it's not reinventing the wheel or anything... but for me, it's helped A LOT.When I make the post/listing now, I will usually now add somewhere that the space is available on  "x date" for showing (and make that date 3-4 etc days out).

Anyone else seeing this in their areas, or some variation thereof?

That is why you see the variation in this policy from lender to lender.

Using your HELOC is a variation of "Equity stripping" and works just fine as long as you understand the pros and cons.

Should I let her pay some variation of HOA, property tax, mortgage, insurance, utilities?

Adding more units on a lot of course makes it more difficult to fit everything so the state incentivizes developers by allowing reduced parking and other variations (for instance reducing a rear yard setback from 15' to 10') to make the project work.My advice would be to go to the Santee planning department and speak with a planner about your ideas for the property.  

The product sheet is on the web site which is great guide, but they have over 10,000 loan variations so if you have a need simple 3 minute online application and multiple offers come back within 24hrs or less, sometimes within 1hr. 

It involves extra upkeep, more variation in cash flow because of vacancy and season dependence.