Prior to when the lease is up Section 8 should be sending you a form in the mail asking if there was any damage/rent owed on the unit.

When prescreening tennants a general rule of requirements is as follows: Income must be three times the monthly rent or greaterNo prior evictions or feloniesGood references from previous landlords600+ credit scoreHow do you confirm their income over the phone?

For every tenant who falls into the latter category, the current system seems highly vulnerable to gaming and tenants could intentionally create protracted repossessions.In Utah we still have to hold personal property for 2 weeks prior to possession--after which the tenant must pay the cost of storage to recover it. 

I'm planning on relocating in the next few months and wanted to get some ground work laid out prior to arriving.

The pros on the heloc are not paying the money for a refinance and getting cash out (you eliminate that pro by refinancing prior and are only left with the con of the variable rate).

I say this because investors act like they are going to get 80% LTV in a county of $50,000 people with no prior experience. 

If the prior tenants did a great job cleaning and missed a few spots I'll send a specific list of items that need to be cleaned (vaccuum, wipe down countertops, tenant missed some items on the bathtub). 

The recent Prop 13 that you mentioned has nothing to do with the prior Prop 13.

Any prior lossesThe Idea is to show that this is an updated property that will help the agent shop it to their carriers.

@Stephen Rager buy the most recent BP book advanced tax strategies.I read it, its very good. 5x better then prior tax books.