It can go block by block, so having an intimate knowledge of neighborhoods is critical.The key is to not over pay in the more distressed neighborhoods, and to overfill, expecting to attract higher paying residents.Use this link for median income --> https://geomap.ffiec.gov/ffiecgeomap/Gino

REI is a different ball game.Best advice is to buy distressed, fix up, and rent it out.

You will need to create the story for why these properties are a good investment, especially if you are divesting for distressed reasons.

My thoughts on the HELOC are that we could use it to renovate our current properties and use the funds to fix up distressed properties in the future(doing BRRR-like activities) and thinking it could be used as a safety net if needed. 

If it is go with the distressed look , I have 1 unit after we sanded we beat the floor with a chain and took a torch and made some burn marks , then stained and put 3 coats of gloss poly , it looks great 

I am looking at buying a distressed 1/1 coondo and turning it into a 30 day rental, and am about to write my proposal. 

You will also be able to buy distressed properties and finance the renovations with a hard money loan.

There is a forum on LinkedIn:  Distressed 2nd Mortgages GroupI haven't spent too much time in that group but it appears to be what you are looking for regardless of the name of the group.

Here's how you can find good deals on properties that might need some work or are priced lower than usual:Connect with People - Make friends with real estate agents, lawyers, and others who know about properties that ...

Ok I will check those websites out, Thank you.There's a variety of ways to get a deal in front of you (I'm mostly a flipper), but basically if it looks promising, I run custom comps queries and check the current & past $/sf of renovated/distressed product in that city or zipcode.Here's a chart on 90066 I generated from my tool under Market Stats > Sales Data > Specific Zip Code:- My above chart (more available) shows the Avg Renovated $/sf (High) over time in this Zip Code, something completely different than charts/providers based on Averages/Medians only, like every other platform (RedFin Below, https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/):- Can't select smaller locations such as City or Zipcode for their $/sf data, so it's useless helping me underwrite/verify a deal.- Can set Zip Code for Median Sale Price data, but again it's the median/avg so it's useless helping me underwrite/verify a deal.Then if that looks decent, I'll run Sales Comps, and get a quick summary of some key metrics based on those comps.