And I understand (I think) your making interest only payments until you pay back the loan?

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

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.

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.

Quote from @Micheal Singleton: Hey stl folks, I'm a new investor .

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.

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.

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

He is telling me that it is my responsibility to pay for a new HVAC unit which will run between $7k-$8k.  

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...