Hey Anderson, I am also fairly new to the game.

Until then it’s just a bunch of he said she said back and forth and honestly these people here do not care about that.

@Matt Weddon - make sure all reasoning & communication around the rejection stays clear of all federal AND state protected classes under Fair Housing.

Quote from @Kody Smith: without getting too deep into my finances, what my strategy is...1. take loans to buy properties (leverage)2. fix/flip for day to day cash flow income3. use some of the fix/flip income to buy consistent cash flow through:- business acquisition, - commercial properties (MF and store fronts),I have no intention of doing ALL of the management myself, I will hire management as needed (medium term goal)my expected core role is money provider, evaluating the numbers, making decisions, and connecting with investors, wholesalers, lenders, contractors, and property owners.while I am just on step 2 of the journey, I am looking toward step 3 to stabilize, and not worry about if house prices drop mid project or not (or not worry as much) So to be fair this is more about obtaining and growing a real estate business not simply buying rentals for cashflow.

Put a bunch of boxes and crap in that newly converted storage closet. 

If you're targeting Section 8 tenants in Chicago, I'd suggest listing at the fair market rent of $2000.

If they do, then you can likely find another tenant for that amount fairly easily, as I would assume the entire town's taxes are up- so if someone really wanted to be in town, that price is the new normal.If your taxes increased that substantially in a C neighborhood, your tenants would way more likely give push back for that type of increase- even though you're not being greedy, you're just imposing the same raise you were given.Often the buyer who had the "well, the numbers are better" mentality is only looking at year 1. 

You'll be able to defer a bunch of tax with this purchase. 

Adhere to the Fair Housing Act and ensure that all applicants are treated equally.

That seems fairly obvious and you really don't need to use a spreadsheet to prove that.Where I get hung up is your example of paying down a 5% load with a 7% HELOC.