If you're going to run a successful business renovating houses, ultimately you being proficient at/and or managing said proficiency in estimating will be a crucial part of your underwriting.Google "how to estimate house remodeling" your hard work will be rewarded.

Without factoring in tax benefits and principal pay down, you're $1800 ahead of the game by house hacking.

Quote from @Cari Sweet:  This sounds like a case for Fair Housing- Familial Status discrimination. 

Can you suggest an insurance company and contacts for our rental houses?

My interests especially lie with multifamily properties, house hacking, and fix & flips.

Incorporating a washer-dryer hookup in the main house could be advantageous.This addition not only increases the convenience for potential renters but also adds value to the property itself.

Buffalo, New York, has once again been named the nation’s hottest housing market for 2025, marking the first time a city has held this title in consecutive years.

Is it better to keep adding equity by doing work on the houses while I'm renting them then refinance to recover the initial down-payment to reinvest into another property or to pay down the heloc?

Each area has its own rules on how it works, but basically, you buy the house, pay a deposit and agree to rehab the house within a certain amount of time.

Hey @Max Smetiouk, so we have a pretty rural lake house.