I currently have 2 pending offers on the first 2 properties but no inquiries as of yet on the third one, which lead me to my question: Should I go with a HELOC?

Here are some additional activities that count, toward real estate professional and material participation hours.Research market for real estate transaction opportunities; current office market rates; terms of financingMaking offer contracts for properties that you end up buyingNegotiation for acquisition of rental properties that you end up purchasing; including directing due diligence and managing financial projections/business plansObtaining financing for properties that you purchaseProperty inspectionsAdvertisingMeeting with Prospective Tenants/showing properties to prospective tenantsNegotiate, obtain, & review proposals and contracts with vendors (insurance, utilities, etc) for property servicesReview and Negotiate The Terms of Sale AgreementsStaging and Decorating3rd party contractor, vendor, or service provider supervision

He offered me $2k to remove them amd never talk about him ahain but wanted me to sign such a messed up contract.

Ultimately, having a guarantor offers added peace of mind.

Thanks for sharing, I agree that time and long term investing offers the best return on the monumental investment it takes to  update a home.

The market certainly offers a tremendous pool of renters in the form of students and staff as @Jonathan Greene pointed out.

If you do not have any background check results of the current tenants and occupants, you should consider doing that before offering a new 1 year lease term.

Perhaps this is an extreme case to use as an example but I am using this to illustrate a point which is this neighborhood like many others in the country would be well served by finding the correct balance between zoning laws and ease of doing business.

1st of all corporations own less than 2% of single family homes, they have actually reduced thier share of buying recently, now investors continue to buy up properties, it’s just more mom & pop types, all that said the housing market is in an extremely strange place, I could make strong arguments for prices pulling back, reaccelarting, or being basically flat, the biggest thing I’d advise is looking at you payment, comparing that to what would pay in rent, figuring out how long you plan to be the house and making an decision based on that, generally in that under 400k price point, breakeven for buying a property seems to about 3-5 years if you plan to stay in the house longer than that, bite the bullet & buy, if not rent.  

I am submitting 5 - 10 offers on SFH's each week in hopes of taking advantage of the current market and to take advantage of the future market.