When your rental income is 1.5-2x the mortgage payment - as is typical for highly refined STR strategies - they're basically not concerned about the mortgage payment.

I am 68 yrs old (semi-retired).  

Too many low income apartment buildings near by / vacant buildings. 

Just focusing on the passive income you want to achieve will leave you chasing cash flow which will have you buying properties in worse areas with harder tenancies that seem to cash flow better, but will have large cap ex.Any time someone asks a question about where to invest and it can be anywhere, they aren't ready to invest and are opening themselves up to every pitch in the world on an area.

;however, my issue is that I dont have good credit and since im self employed I make.very little income.  Ive

Start by deepening your understanding of CRE fundamentals, including net operating income (NOI), cap rates, and lease structures like triple net (NNN).

Some of the best investment were made in bad neighborhoods and higher crime rates then as usual the area becomes gentrified and continues to grow in both equity and passive income.

Here is the thread I started a few months back detailing my experience with Growth Equity Group, Brett Immel, and their cronies.https://www.biggerpockets.com/...Subsequently, I've had dozens of investors come to me directly, many of them having phone conversations with me, stating how they lost most or all of their retirement funds.

@Tony Schmucker Now that you know all of those markets work from a Macro perspective you should look to see where you want to live for 2-3 years and what your and your wife's income will be in those markets.

Most (not all) HELOCs require that the property is titled to an individual (not LLC) and are full doc, meaning your employment history, income, DTI etc will be factors.