Spend a little more money than you might have been planning to, buy in a better area (i.e. not a “turn key” 100k house off the mls), and self manage.

Contractors can give you ballpark quotes on the spot, which will tighten up your budget.

The HELOC would act as en emergency way to tap into their equity if needed - as long as they don't spend it unwisely!

You don't have to spend a fortune and buy a house directly on the beach to do well, but your starting price point for a viable option in this market is around $350-$450k for a solid 2-3 bedroom oceanfront condo or around $500k for a 3-4 bedroom house within walking distance of the beach. 

For example, I often recommend working with vendors who specialize in rental property maintenance or have experience with rental landscaping to keep your property looking great without overspending.Start Small and SmartFocus on buying a property that fits your budget and investing goals.

It’s better to spend a little now than risk costly mistakes later.

I'm going to reiterate what's already been mentioned above, but I'm going to actually give you examples of why it's relevant to you to find a U.S. tax professional.1 - You're going to need to file U.S. taxes once you have property down here, there's federal filings, state filings, and sometimes local filings too2 - Tons of tax treaties between the U.S. and Canada that are easy to miss and can cost you a lot of money (important one with rentals - effectively connected income - if the professional you talk to doesn't know what this is, run away)3 - The amount of days you spend in the U.S. needs to be tracked and if you go over a threshold, all of your worldwide income could be taxable by the U.S.4 - Selling real property means up to 15% of your sales proceeds might not be available to you for years (FIRPTA)5 - Lots of nuance at the state and local levels, which both want to take as much money from you as possibleMain takeaway here is that you should find a U.S. based tax person.

As important a consideration is how will you reinvest/spend the proceeds from the sale to build wealth.Hope this helps.

So far, nothing.The point is that I believe people spend a lot of money, time, and effort protecting themselves against a non-existent threat.

.* Receipts and Expenses: Once I brought to Jenny's attention that we were 20k above budget, she refused for days to give me the receipts, saying that I needed to give her my credit card statement first.