I think you may be operating under a few assumptions that I'd suggest re-considering...First, buying a cashflow negative property with the assumption that it will appreciate and become cashflow positive in the future is the definition of speculation. ...which begs the question: do you have a net worth that can withstand the hit if your speculation doesn't pan out?  

Tenant informed me that water came down from bathroom exhaust fan.

Not all existing buildings were built to withstand the traffic STR generates.

Hard Money is typically more of a "last resort" when all traditional financing means have been exhausted.

I’m in the middle of doing my first one now and it’s exhausting but exhilarating.

I had scraped and struggled along until then and I was just exhausted from the transient nature of the “gigs” I used to support myself up until that point .

We wanted to make sure that whatever we use of the HELOC, it is not exhausted.

Eventually, you'll exhaust the entitlement, but if used right, you'll be sitting on multiple cash-flowing doors and some equity (not to mention a bit of REI clout) prior to coming to that point.

This in some studies has been shown to outperform or at worst break even with buy-and-hold investing and is WAY WAY WAY WAY less involved, gut-wrenchingly exhausting, and fraught with those inevitable bad apple tenants.