I'm Nick - a 26 year old tax accountant living in Charleston, SC.

I own the property free and clear and i use the equity as part of my business line of credit.

[1]    You might want to think about opening 2 FDIC insured savings accounts that have no fees.

.- Others believe that investing in areas with high appreciation is sort of like putting $ into a retirement or a high-interest savings account.

You’ll need to treat it like a business—handling tenant management, accounting, legal compliance, property maintenance, and more.That said, when done correctly, it’s a powerful tool for building wealth!

I’d never had more than $2,000 in my bank account up until this point.

This is a good opportunity in a strong market, and with your excellent credit and HELOC funds, you’re in a great position to make this project happen.

If you have equity and decent credit, a conventional Fannie Mae HomeStyle (or the Freddie Mac version) would likely be the better option instead of an FHA 203k loan (which will require a 3rd party HUD consultant to oversee the deal in addition to having the contractor involved). 

Quote from @Argel Algura: Hey Bigger Pockets Community,A year ago I wrote about rebuilding and starting over in life and considering real estate investing as a path (see post here: "Bad credit, minimal cash and starting over in life . . .

you do have the ability to close your account at any time.