Tim,My advice as a banker would be to do a cash out refinance and avoid carrying the Heloc.

Oh by the way, up until i started selling, i hadn't paid income taxes on any of the rental profits for almost 14 years and even after I started selling, my carry forward losses covered everything up until last year when they finall ran out.If you buy right, sfh rentals are the best long term investment you will ever make.

Any excess is carried fwd as an NOL.

You made a great point that I find carries over here to the forums.

Plus you will need to carry your own team or be in good with sub contractors which means you need volume.  

So I figured that if I could avoid negative cash flow, the other two sources would carry us until rates declined and we could refinance to lower interest expenses.

I think working with an insurance broker is a great way to go to derive the most competitive quote at no cost to you.I also think that you can increase your deductible up to say 5k as well as request your tenants carry renters insurance.

A referral like that carries more credibility than a pre-approval letter. 

What if they all decide to leave, can you carry the mortgage, etc. while renovations happen? 

To me, I don't see why anyone wouldn't do cost segregation even if it ends up being held as a carry forward loss.