You might find it useful to attend a meetup or two just to learn how other folks got their start into the industry :) I host a small/intimate meetup once a month in LIC, check it out here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1214850-meet...

Having owned property in rockford its not a great appreciation area so getting a HELOC will probably take 5-10 years based on loan pay down and maybe some slight appreciation.

We love having someone else pay over half our mortgage payment!

I'd purchased it on a land contract, paying interest only for the first 5 years, with the ability to extend another 5 years if I'm not able to find favorable financing to refinance within that time period.

@Victor Longinotti my vote is you contact @Jaycee Greene and pay him a few dollars.

And that is the reason why a LIRP can provide much more retirement income.You don't pay interest on the loans and the death benefit pays off the loans when you die.

your comment around "approvals will be easy to get" gives me pays if you've not done this type of project before, I understand your logic, and I don't know your local municipality but it always seems to me that no matter how easy we think a project or approval is going to be, something always comes up.

Also, contacting neighbors is not standard practive for PMCs, so how much extra are you willing to pay your PMC to do this?

I pay one CPA about $5k yr. 

If they fail to pay the taxes, plus fees and interest, within that time, then the property legally becomes yours.