US News just chose to weight the number based on population, so it pushed TX down the rankings, even though they produce more patents that MA.

This is only going to be trouble in the future.

Once the property is in my name free and clear are there instances where banks will view the property as an income producing asset and lend the renovation cost just using the property as collateral rather than require down payment for the loan?

@Tommy Cramblit you shouodnt have any trouble renting out a sfh in atlanta

I am trying to find a lender that would offer a HELOC on the property but I am having trouble finding one that would offer it to me because the house is in my LLC name not personal name.

I still have mortgage balance around 280k .As I am planning to invest on rental property, I found a townhome which is on sale for 400k and I would like to invest in.I wanted to know what are my best options here.I can pay the 20% down payment from the pocket for the new townhome , but i would be in trouble if i could not find any tenant after buying the property as I am already paying for the mortgage for my primary residence.I am thinking of following options.- Do a cash out refinance on the current mortgage to have some cash in hand in case I couldn't find the tenant sooner?

You should have a penalty for breaking the lease early and that penalty should be significant enough to prevent any loss and compensate you for your time and trouble.

@Thomas WillinghamI would stat renovating vacant units and then simply non-renew trouble tenants and offer good tenants upgraded units if they are interested. 

., here is a short list of things that will get you trouble:1 - No insulation. 

Too much and you're missing the party, too little and you get in trouble.