Totally agree that giving it away to taxes was a very painful experience for me!

It’s how we built our business because this is where we find all our borrowers.Since COVID, many of the LA real estate clubs disappeared.

Instead of spreading the "pain" on all, you look to different factors so can effect a smaller universal price increase, and start being more focused on the other price increases to be a burden upon those specific customers that it applies to, better known as a fee schedule. 

Unless you already have buy & hold investors lined up make sure you have a reasonable inspection period as showing occupied properties can be a real pain unless your buyers only care about the rent & purchase price.

So by finally hitting that bruising pain point, that means light at end of rate tunnel. 

Gas grills are a pain to properly clean.I didn't notice that much of Disney themes?

And that lien is a huge title problem waiting to happen for anybody who thinks it disappeared when an accounting decision was made.It's a tough situation for the borrower. 

We were overseas in Okinawa.... and I don't know anyone who bought... there might have been, but I only knew renters (and we had to pay in cash monthly... that was a pain!). 

So your friend is correct in that you can get a new HELOC to pay off the old one, but that doesn't mean the balance just magically disappears.

I grew up in Pittsburgh so doing some in PA in the future may be of interest in the future.