First, taking out a mortgage against your home should allow you to reduce your adjusted gross income by the amount of the interest that you are paying for the loan.

If that were the case then nobody would use leverage.When an IRA engages in a debt-financed investment the portion of income that is derived from the borrowed funds is considered taxable - so 65% of gross rental income in my example.However, you have a $1,000 exemption off the top, and then get to apply the same ratio - in this case 65% - of all the normal deductions like interest on the note, depreciation, property taxes, etc. to reduce the amount of income that is taxable.The net taxable income will then generally be a pretty low number. 

With construction costs the way they are the design fees aren't the largest cost to manage on any development and having someone who knows what they are doing and is able to be thorough enough to reduce change orders as well as being able to think on their feet when questions occur. 

House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs!

You are already claiming the interest portion from the mortgage payment, so not sure if using the LOC to reduce your mortgage is a good idea.  

Any environmental issues must be contended with, zoning or land use violations will come to light when a property goes under contract and may kill any sales or drastically reduce the property’s market value.

For example my 2 bedroom with 2 TVs jumped to $170, I had to call in and get them to reduce it to $80.

While there are some big positives (low maintenance), I don’t think they’re generally outweighed by the negatives of increasing HOA payments, reduced appreciation, and my biggest concern-changing HOA rules on rentals (what happens if the board changes the rental cap or eliminates rentals all together?). 

Since the governing MLS in the area (some are owned by the local Realtor associations and some by private parties) don't have the listings, many of the local agents don't see the listings and thus competition is reduced (so the argument goes). 

You’ll get the additional tax benefit of the interest on the mortgage being tax deductible, reducing your tax liability.