Here is one that is currently going around in my town of Waterloo, IA that i think could be a big deal for landlords:The Community Development Waterloo, Iowa Lead Hazard Control Grant completes improvements to your home to remove lead based paint up to $40,000.Both owner-occupied and rental homes can participate.Your home must have been built before 1978You must be income eligible & have children under the age of 6 who reside or visit frequently.This money can be used to replace windows, doors, or siding with lead-based paint.

Now, with a diminished supply being fought over for increased homebuilding and improvement projects, the wood you need for that Little Free Library project will cost you 250 percent more than it did last year.The upshot: Suppliers weren’t convinced that the construction industry could withstand the pandemic until 2021; they’ll need time (perhaps till 2022) to ramp up production enough to meet demand.

Simply say HELOC is for house improvements & leave it at that.   

So that would improve my DTI with each new cash-flow-positive property acquired.

Found this place that needed some work done, but has lots of bedrooms and cost was similar to much smaller properties with minor improvements.

Not because I'm trying to hide anything but I've never lived inside the property and don't remember a lot of the details as to when improvements were done 10-15 years ago.More importantly from the seller's point of view: What's the upside in doing so in a hot market like this? 

I am asking for advice on how to handle the process of clearing out her belongings in a way that does not expose me to any legal risk and also allows me to begin renovating and improving the unit as soon as possible to decrease the vacancy loss as much as possible while still being ethical and compassionate to her family.On a side note, the other tenant is a building inspector that deals with code violations for the city...sooooooo, I'm going to be pulling permits for everything related to the renovation and hope to create a positive relationship with him while he lives in the unit.Thank you in advance for your advice.  

I always recommend house hacking especially for newer investors since you can purchase a cash-flowing asset with minimal cash out of pocket while also taking on some improvements to the property to gain experience with adding value, if it works for your budget/needs.

If a 30-year-old is still working a "poverty level" position, it's because they don't want to put effort into improving their position in life. 

They are also known to mismanage money, which can result in huge assessments for common area improvements.