They did not do construction draws you needed your own cash for that. 

Get a good attorney to draw up your LLC and spell out what everyone does and how you can push any of you out when they underperform.

A HELOC gives you flexibility since you can draw as needed and only pay interest on the amount you use, which might be useful if you’re not sure exactly how much you’ll need upfront.That said, it’s important to compare the interest rates between a HELOC and your expected returns in the stock market—if you’re making more in your investments than you’d pay in interest, it could be a good play. 

As you mention may want to look at dividing the space and trying to get two tenants in there

You do have to be able to front the cash prior to each draw, but other than that they've been good to work with 

Get architect into the house when you are in escrow, get all drawings and site visit done while in escrow along with prep to submit once you close 2.

I used to think that the “big difference” , The “great divide” in investments was between equity and debt.  

I live in North Georgia and a few people have said the town in general has declined since the casino was built but I figured that would draw more interest and the numbers still look pretty good.

@Kathy Diamond,@Stuart Udis makes some great points here—taking the median rent divided by the median home price in a county isn't going to yield any actionable insights.

While I don't have years of experience to draw on for how the real estate market behaves around elections, I believe it's like most aspects of investing—unpredictable.