Worth every penny imo to potentially warn you of a bad investment.

I'll have $140 in it and could sell it for $240 right away, but the neighborhood is really starting to move, so hopefully in a couple years it'll be worth an extra $100K.I've got a couple others that I just did a light renovation on to rental standards and if the neighborhood really takes off, I'll redo them to high end "buyer" standards.You've got a good thought.

I live 40 miles away, so I called the owner of the biggest plumbing co in the city and he and 2 techs drpped everything to get to the property within 10 minutes of my call.I had put a garage outdoor access remote on the outside of the house.. they couldn't get in thru that because THE POWER WAS NOW OFF.Luckily i had put a coded door knob on the kitchen door that opens to the deck-- i gave them the code and they were inside instantly.The water heater was STILL SPEWING WATER full blast in a stream so strong it was hitting the second story ceiling and hitting the ELECTRICAL PANEL also located in the garage and that's what had knocked out the power .The plumbers immediately turned off the inside water main cutoffand sent me photos of the EMERGENCY SITUATION the pm so calmly let me know about by email an hour earlier.i fired the pm co that instant and got on the phone to start farm (my rental policy ins co) whiledriving an hour to the property.i also called the city's best WATER EMERGENCY REMEDIATION COMpany while en route.When i got there, the water was turned off ( finally)the drywall ceiling had fallen in, the light fixtures destroyed, the garage door open case was HALF FULL OF WATER and there were 1000s of mold blooms on every surface and hundreds of stacks of spiky growing black mold (looked like iron fiilings we used to play with in that game we all had as kids where u use a magnet and drag the iron filings around to put hair and a mustache on the bald guy cartoon photo) the mold spikes were 1.5" tall on the woot railings and stairs going into the house, on all of my beautiful built in wooden garage shelves--- what a mess-- like the streets of Beirut after the bombs went offand I don't have allergies -- but i could not even STAND inside the garage because the WET MOLD MILDEW SMELL was so strong it instantly gagged me and gave me a headache and i couldn't breathe.So here Ewe are on Jan 17 and now i know that the BEST rental dwelling policy dies NOT COVER MOLD REMEDIATION AT ALL ( so far $14,000) but it does cover water damage with a $2500 deductible...

Can someone shed some light as to the difference?

It can also subject you to being considered in the same light as a mortgagee, which would carry with it a host of  legal requirements that you need to adhere to.  

For a first timer I would recommend you learn the ropes by sticking to a light rehab say under 30K, or however much money you are able to lose, whichever is less.  

In addition, it’s easy not to remember exactly where a roof vent or sky light is underneath the snow and ice.

Can someone shed some light on what works and doesn't here? 

I would do "light staging" which gives people an idea of space segregation, allow them to picture their furniture and essentially mentally move into the house before putting in an offer yet.

Also, be aware that HELOCs can be cancelled by the bank with no warning.