@Ned, that is a great observation.  

I did observe people giving you great advice trying to educate you on the situation, but it seems like you are not receptive to it. 

What are some of the key points of consideration one should observe before taking out a first-lien HELOC?

With that said, look at the actual $$$ you are pulling out (and ruining your nice cash flow numbers as you've observed).If you pull out 20% from a rent of 1500/month or 18,000/year, you have saved a whopping 3600...at the end of the year.  

The Supreme Court said that it had to observe the Civil Rights Act and serve blacks, because its customers were in interstate commerce and therefore failing to serve them had a chilling effect on interstate commerce that Congress could regulate.I'll let people older than me tell us about the Green Book to show that the Supreme Court got that decision right.The point is that national rent control IS doable.

From my observations, on market deals almost never make sense for flippers.

My opinion, that most of these marketing company produces programs, whether we want to call then educational, mentorship, counsel, advice or whatever are CRAP, and possibly dangerous, is based on my experience, knowledge, and observation over a 45 + years real estate investing career. 

@Alex Deacon how many months of observation did it take and what factors do you monitor to understand your market that well?

I have also been watching the observing the recent answerline topic.

This is a touchy subject.If you observed specific concerning behaviors during interactions, such as rudeness, aggression, or disrespect for property, these could potentially be valid reasons for rejection if documented properly.You should add one very important things to do on your checklist, past landlord references and it must be legit and find out why they aren't there any longer.