I’ll take the fast nickel over a slow dime in this case In my experience, it's usually more than just a few hundred.

Case in point: the 18 unit seller wanted a price of 1.6M. 

Factor the worst case in every investment and you should be on track to make the HELOC work in your favor. 

That's also not the case in Fort Worth or Texas.

You will usually get better cash flow with the multi's, or at least it has been the case in every market I've worked in.

Case in point...Friends had a sub working under their GC who took his old grinder, removed the wheel, took off the protective shield, added a small circular saw blade then taped the switch to the on position.

If that's the case in your municipality, you can have the tenant pay, but remember that if they don't pay the bill, YOU will be on the hook.In Scranton, the city in its infinite wisdom sold the only performing asset, the Scranton Sewer Authority, to PAWC. 

And I suspect you're very right about not being able to evict for non-payment of rent in California (and some other states), but that's not the case in every state.  

Just had the 1st positive case in the area; all dinner shows are shut-down until May 7; Dollywood closed.

This isn't the case in every market.