Obviously, dont put an unqualified person in there, but with record credit card debt in America, and a worsening recession on the horizon, one can expect much worse credit scores across the board vs 5 years ago.I have struggled to place tenants in my properties before, and have fixed the issue by adjusting my screening parameters. 

My current situation - I have a FICO of ~630 (no late payments or derogatory marks, just credit card debt from school). 

I have a Associate Degree in a completely unrelated field.Seeing as how we are planning to make real estate the foundation of our day-to-day income stream and long-term "retirement" strategy, it feels as if making another change of profession is in the cards.

If nothing else, offering a small reward like a gift card to their favorite restaurant (ask when they initially sign the lease) helps.

In Japan you can buy just about anything you would use a credit card or Yen to buy (actually that is true in many Asian countries, including Singapore where I lived for 10 years); Or back here in 'merica, we can even buy a Whopper at Burger King!

Sure it can be a write off, but my question is if it is the highest and best use of your time (or the given employees time) to be running a skid steer - transporting it, storage, maintenance, cleaning, etc, and if it still makes sense if you need to hire someone to run it for you and take care of the other things.Add up all those recurring costs - maintaining the machine, maintaining the trailer, having a large enough truck to tow it, insurance and registration for all of the above, your time or your employees time related to all of the above...even at $14k a year it might be attractive enough to keep paying that and having them drop it off at the job site for you.A brand new machine could easily cost you over 6 figures - that's 7 years of rentals at $14k/year before including all the holding costs. 

A Heloc is a open end mortgage like a credit card so its an additional trade line on credit, cannto never be used as an Asset, PITI reserve, and its a DTI killer in most cases.A heloc is also usually set up on a shorter term versus a mortgage, carries a Higher interest rate, and most carry a interest only with a prepayment penalty.

All of those, including permanent life insurances have their place in a personal portfolio but some people believe that because one specific product does not make sense in their personal situation that it should never be used by others.I am using credit card debt for some of my investments.

Commit to spending less, paying off high interest credit cards, maintaining positive cash flow in your personal finances, and cleaning up your personal balance sheet.  

By changing the name, you retain the benefits of your existing LLC, including the D&B account, bank account, and business credit card.