The title company that was used for this transaction held things up and unfortunately, we had no control over that.

California is the only state that has essentially put a rent control type of restriction on home owner insurance premiums.

There’s not much I can do to control the Bay Area real estate market, and our property has gone down in value since we purchased it.

The sooner you regain control, prove that you fully intend to enforce the terms of your lease, and that you will not be 'played' by their recall of events or documents, the more effective this action will be.  

In other words, all the other MTR hosts are dealing with the same expense.To control this expense, I always recommend an utility cap where tenants are charged for any usage over an established dollar amount.  

You are in control of how the set up works, if you need interior designer help.

The issue I have here is how much control they have over my position, ( they have the right to buy me out at any time).  

Pricing tools that exist on the market are decent, but you also need to know how to control it, otherwise, it will go nuts with unrealistic rates far out and extreme last-minute discounts. 

Besides all the benefits of real estate, I like the control I have, and I like the discounts on the purchase price, I'm able to get. 

But, this has absolutely nothing to do with living out of a line of credit rather than a checking account.Even not counting the opportunity cost credit given in the analysis for the “reserve” theoretical investment, the additional nickel and dime fees associated with the HELOC will eat up any savings.Perhaps you became much more vigilant at controlling expenses when you decided to use the HELOC to pay your everyday bills.