I have done flips, buy and hold, LTR/MTR/STR, and I have house hacked every home I have ever owned (even though it annoyed my wife).I would love to answer any questions that you may have, especially in regards to the "house waking" strategy.

Is this normal?

Spackle and paint numerous times, fill holes in the wall, have had to wake up early to move my car due to the parking situation, etc. - Have had to sit down all five tenants and reset expectations in terms of cleaning (including the 68 year old co-worker).3.

If not I would do exactly what you were suggesting and just normally invest.

., stolen smoke detectors, fire extinguishers) or cover costs for anything beyond normal wear and tear.

If you have a $20k credit card at 19.99%, use the HELOC to pay that off and then take the money you would normally pay on that credit card debt to cover the rest of the HELOC payment so you can hold the properties.

It wouldn't make sense to choose a city where you'd spend significant time and money battling regulations just to conduct normal business operations.

Also, I normally try not to call out people or pick fights on social media, but please do not refi your loans into DSCRs thinking this will fix the problem.

Normally, when you get a VA loan there is a one year occupancy for the property. 

If not section 8, I would make the rent $1050 for a normal paying tenant.Now, the tenant is upset about the large increase cause I thought sec 8 was paying it.