I would raise the rent. 

May need a little rate buy down but in the long run it is much better to raise your rate 1% to 1.5% versus taking a Heoc rate above 8%.The whole point of taking cash out is its quick and you avoid having the associated risks that come with a Heloc.

As you're very aware, appreciation here locally has skyrocketed in the past ~4 years.

They raised over $300  million in two mortgage REITs, however they didn’t have the deal flow to invest 10% of it.  

The bay area has many old houses so be aware of what it will take to being them up to code and meet insurance requirements.

Or would the investors above been aware of the extremely high risk associated with these extreme high returns?    

I could raise prices and make operational changes whenever I wanted.

Is there anything else I need to be aware of while investing in this syndicate?

Property manager (PM) 's lawyer continued the case to get the unpaid rent from the tenant.PMA between landlord and property manager(PM) has also expired so landlord got the property back , but when landlord requested to settle the account and the deposit( there is one month deposit from landlord also), PM refuses since the lawsuit is going on with the tenant, Additionally PM is still charging the monthly property management fees from landlord even though landlord is managing the property.Landlord is done dealing with PM and requested the PM to withdraw the lawsuit against the tenant ( landlord is aware that he will loose 2 months rent), PM came back saying they cannot withdraw the lawsuit since that will violate fair housing law.QUESTION:Does withdrawing unpaid rent case against the tenant violate fair housing law ?

Are you aware of this?