In a highly competitive tourist market like New Orleans, I update my photos weekly. 

They currently have no proof of actually being able to pay the deposit (I know this is based on the rent but the account literally has $0.00 in it).

Copies of Leases: Have you been able to review the actual leases in place to see who is responsible for what?

I Can only realistically get $1600-$1700 a month renting my house based on the market.

The first clue lies (pun intended) in this fragment from your friend's creative writing sample: ...I wanted to "sell" the rental house to a new LLC...Anytime you have to put a critical word like sell in quotation marks, it means that you're not actually selling.

I am in the Milwaukee market. 

If you find an actual property that looks like a homerun and would warrant a HELOC, then you can go for it without reservation.

If you have an actual lending strategy then different loans will serve your overall portfolio goals in different ways.

Some renters may hesitate, but if the rental market is strong and insurance is covered in your numbers, it can still work.

This has actually always been the case.