When I hear how much people are spending on education with gurus or even 'local' coaches, it breaks my heart--that money could've been a downpayment on a house.If one is committing to spending tens of thousands of dollars whether upfront or splitting a minimum amount of deals, it's one of the worst mistakes that you can make in my opinion...In a world where information is at our fingertips and there is a blueprint that exists for everything, you'd be better off investing in courses on overcoming fear of change, lack of motivation, etc.

Most new investors who talk about building do it because none of the existing inventory out there meets their financing.

Be prepared to document where that cash came from - in your case, that's easy, your HELOC.Would be happy to help you with that sort of transaction if you want to reach out - I find a lot loan officers are unfamiliar that this option even exists. 

Both existing guests were cool with the intrusion and left 5 star reviews.

Talk to folks, ask them what/how they invest and that'll give you some pointers to learn about things you may not have even known existed. 

I can't find any information on occupancy requirements prior to sale for an owner-builder in this state, though it's well-documented in some other states like Texas so I'd be surprised if no guidelines exist. 

But since an NDA exists on it, the business opportunity may be lost.

Could you raise the rent on your existing tenants? 

The growing list of issues include multiple poor quality tenants damaging properties and breaking leases with no recourse, and non-existent communication/accountability from property management to the point where I have zero faith in their personnel correcting the issues I'm experiencing. 

Of course not, and neither do we…but they are a part of the business.The methodology we adopt is that our existing tenants are always a little below market rent.