Try to make your tenants happy, but also do not bend over backwards *too much* for them.

@Mike Flora  I was at J Martins last Oakland event.. and Bruce Norris did the keynote and I sat with Sean at dinner.Bruce likes SFR and half the Q and A for him was exactly that when is the crash coming and how deep will it be.his comments now were geared towards west coast but I do believe they are germane in many markets.He feels a market is not heading down until 20 to 30% or more of MLS is foreclosure acitivty or short sales and in our area that boat has sailed.. there is very little of either.He did mention though that he felt MF was  to use his words  " FROTHY"  his statement was when he talks to other MF owners and ask them would you buy your property for what you could sell it for today or a like kind one.. it was a resounding NO.. which to him or his point was he felt it was over valued and at some risk for moving backwards.. and from my VERY limited knowledge on MF I suspect that only happens in an over build situation to many doors not enough renters and you have rental bonus wars..

Some people say that is a bit backwards, but for me I know I will learn quicker.Let me know if I can help in any way!

In which case you need to run the numbers to see what you could collect at the sale and work backwards to get to your desired return when putting in an offer.2 MHP doesn't hit your reserve which will then become an REO. 

2) Avoid Misunderstandings - be up front and clear about every aspect and with every person - Do Make full disclosures, put it in writing, people have bad memories3) Avoid putting your (career) ladder up against the wrong wall and climbing it - Do think about what you want for an outcome and walk the steps backward on paper to outline how to get where and who you want to be

You can't clear title until you know who the actual (or assumed) owners are, then you can work backwards from there. 

It just seems kind of backwards to use money from a HELOC, then use all of our extra cash flow to pay it off quickly?

If you pay cash, you can make lots of mistakes and not go backwards.

But now I am feeling like maybe I started this thing backwards.

You are looking at the problem backwards.