My advice would be, if you truly want to learn the business, lease it up, refinance, pull some money out, and go on to the next one.

I'd personally say pulling your water heater out and replacing with a wall mount on demand one, would be worth the cost to have in unit washer dryer if you are staying there or renting it, it would be worth it.its always worth doing the big stuff well and correct even if you are cleaning up after someone, the long term hold always prevails, its just a little frustrating front sometimes, but hang in there!

I have yet to have a guest ask for a refill or mention the quality (I tried to pick a nice-looking, not-too-expensive brand).Be careful with the scents -- I had a run of people pulling out and hiding the scents and one or two people complained that they were scent-sensitive in private notes. 

That way, you can get your foot in the door, start building equity, and stay at home a bit longer to save more money.You could also consider the BRRRR method where you buy a fixer-upper, rehab it to add value, rent it out, and then refinance to pull your cash back out.

This reminds me of a police officer  pulling somebody over without reasonable cause and asking to search their vehicle and if the person does not consent, they’re saying you must have something to hide.

I'm unsure if you would be able to combine both loans given that the HELOC is tied to a different property than the one you got traditional financing on.A work around is if you are able to purchase the new property with the HELOC at a significant enough discount, bring the property value up via renovations or additions, then refinance the property, pulling out enough money to repay the HELOC. 

It's important to have a good understanding of the different areas of Cincinnati and Dayton, so you can assure that you're pulling accurate comps.

I signed up with them about 3 to 4 months ago, then found out how expensive the loan was to get going with them and told them that I would self finance it instead but they had to cancel the loan first...they use a company called Special Financing Company..the person I spoke to at REI his name is Paul, he said he would take care of canceling the loan, but a month later I realized that they were pulling $599 out of my bank account.

There are many unqualified LOs, that are almost about to quit because their pipelines are so dry, that they will tell you anything to pull credit, order an appraisal, and switch terms on you at the very last minute. 

If you are willing to do some value-add, pulling off a BRRRR is still very possible, but be patient for the right deal.