If the applicant comes from the pool of people that I or my tenants know, I use real estate as a way to give back as many of my tenants will not qualify credit wise or may even have a criminal background or would struggle for another reason if I were to just stick to the "background/credit check" criteria. 

Poor communicators, poor housekeeping skills, prescription med abuse, big dogs that they couldn't properly care for, damaging, etc.

I would like to purchase another property so I looked into a heloc and a cash out refinance and it looks like I would qualify for about 75000 max which would be enough to put a down payment on another property and rehab it, but I still haven’t paid myself back from the original property rehab.

I highly recommend a well-qualified REALTOR who works with investors and knows how to help you best.7.

@Victor Yang To use the rental losses to offset any active income (W2), you'd have meet Real Estate Professional status (which would be difficult to do with a W2 job because you'd have to work more on real estate than any other job to qualify) OR have an AGI of $150K or less.

There are variables involved, and there’s of course skill and effort required not just calls.

Now, I'm not an attorney, so I'm basically mansplaining something that I am not qualified to comment on.

Because the reality is that one deal won't make you rich, but the continuous growth you get by doing deals and building your skills, network, and expertise will create the foundation to get you there! 

Also, you can possibly take equity out of your current properties instead of taking out a construction/hard money loans.Purchase and Rehab Financing:If you are doing simple purchase and rehab (not ground up), then it's not that hard to qualify and you just need to right broker/program.

Selling and exploring a 1031 exchange could make sense if you can find a deal with stronger cash flow or faster equity growth, but the key is comparing your current return to what your skill and experience could generate in another investment.Here to help,Jorge