Also the hit rate per property is really low.

What is the interest rate on the HELOC?

@JD Martin agree 10,000%What I am surprised about is I had a call with someone in Austin today and in sw Florida and they both said things are awful and prices are dropping at high rates - curious don't hear as much chatter here about that as it could be an opportunity 

Head over to bank rate or and take a look at the mortgage calculators, plug in the numbers and get an idea of what the property needs to generate to satisfy the intended debt.You still have to underwrite the deal for the non-finance expenses as well(typically 40-50% of the gross rents). 

If you pay cash for something and are able to refinance at a rate that makes sense to pay off your HELOC, that's the only thing I could see making some sense. 

If you're $400 below market rate I'd give them chance to "catch up".

Sometimes they’ve already negotiated solid group rates.

If I accept the suggested pricing opportunities it could drop my rates by $100 / night in some cases. 

The drop and Swap is about all we use here due to the confiscatory tax rates based on sale price.

In this case, you can use Rental Income from the units that you will not be living in and that income can count to help you qualify.FHA rates are going to be lower than conventional for you almost always, but FHA does have a 1.75% funding fee.