@Christophe Noualhat First property doing good, the initial tenant left in November and we're having a difficult time finding a new one, seems to be a bad period to find tenant (January, winter, cold etc.. not a good time to move..), other than that I have reports that the property had been well maintained so no complaints there.

The first lends itself to smaller properties and potentially higher turnover, whereas 3 could appeal to a larger group of people that may be there for a longer time period. 2)what’s the typical income of someone that rents in the area?

There are a lot of other benefits to owning real estate as well people tend to forget about- depreciation- appreciation- debt paydownAlong with the benefits of syndicating large multi family which can make deals work over a multi year period that wouldn't with an individual investor. 

Unfortunately, we didn't receive any offers during that period, which coincided with our struggles with county regulations.

I buy properties in locations that have very low risk of extended periods of vacancy. 

was it because of the tenant or should it have been part of routine maintenance.As mentioned, whether 9 days or 9 months, if it is within the time period allowed by statute, then you should respond. 

There was also a case in Phila where a judge denied the landlord a judgment for the time period during which the license was not in place.

So the mortgage companies and the IRS set the exact same threshold for being a second home or being a an investment property.My CPA however has advised me that there are caveats for doing repairs, or periodically visiting to inspect it, that allow you to exceed the 14 day leisure limit.

The pay back period either ballons or goes away completely. 

Each lender has their own standards or parameters, such as draw period, FICO required, whether it is interest only or principal and interest, whether you can lock a portion of the HELOC or it is all floating interest rate, etc.