It is something that gives you the leverage to make more money and have the ability to not pay the debt on it monthly either (your burn rate on it). 

The best setups have:5-11 members (ideally 6-8).1 bedroom per member.1 bathroom for every 3 members.Look for properties with these specs:6-8 bedrooms.2-4 bathrooms.Ample parking (street or otherwise).Detached houses fit this formula beautifully, but other property types can work too.

The property investment in total is estimated to be 105K with $1600 per month cash flow when complete.

The current one lasted 8 years and needs to be replaced (as per what our property manager is saying)I heard front loaders could leak, so I typically only do top loaders for rentals.

.: Is it legal, per the IRS, to rent my primary home back to myself? 

I don't care what kind of business it is, STR, Hot Dog stand, any biz I am NOT paying 8X annual gross revenues, no flippin way! 

My thinking immediately turned to researching local rental costs per square foot to determine income potential with triple the current square footage.

Uses to see this advertised.

Hi Wendy,Coming from a Banker in most cases the Heloc is a Line of credit you only pay on the amount you use and a Heloan is the bank/lender gives you all cash.Lets say you borrow $10K as a heloc and in the first few months you take out $1500.00 your payment is only going to be based off the $1500 and not the $10K because the rest in the line of credit (LOC) not being used - Same as a credit card.

They are lending to people who are so desperate they will pay 16+% for the loan.