What about having to break even, or even feed the property every month $200 for those same 36 months, but at sale, could net a $75K-$100K profit?

They need to add 25% in order to get the 20% for  Overhead and Profit.

Or use the HELOC to do a flip, use those profits to hopefully pay off or down the HELOC and then purchase a rental.  

What this implies to the typical RE investor is obtaining significant cash flow is a big challenge right now and relying on other RE profit sources (such as a value add and not doing a value subtract) may be a more certain path of generating returns.  

Profit per door is relevant.

Petersburg area, resulting in highly–profitable investments.If you need professional and courteous property management experts for your multifamily, single family, condominiums or town home, you've found the right company!

In fact, the most profitable deals I've ever done were in these markets.

When you go to sell, you're subject to tax on the amount of profit between your adjusted basis and sale price, not your purchase vs sale price.Recapture is not repaying the depreciation.

A big question is do you have the $25,000 to gamble?

I know that it eats into profits but it is something to consider for at least your first rental.