I figured that I could buy them, fix them up a bit and sell them separately for a larger profit.

Where is the line drawn between keeping your tenant happy and requiring them to fix some of their own problems?

However, I am torn between making it a straight rental or use the BRRRR strategy, live in it for 12-18 months while I fix it up, refinance it and then rent it out.  

I focus mainly on fix and flip type deals, but do a small amount of wholesaling also in addition to some new construction and buy and hold.

A HELOC won't cost you much for closing and allow you to keep the lower fixed interest rate on the primary.

There are ways I can manipulate the input to achieve a more desired output with real estate - I can fix up a house, add to it, rent it out, lease to own, sell it outright, borrow against it, etc.

The good news is, we were able to pay cash to fix it! 

My goal is to fix and flip my first few properties to build capital and get into rentals using the BRRRR strategy.

The first property I bought was a condo, two years ago, and have moved out recently, fixed it up and am on the fence of selling or renting it.

I could also do it as a fix & flip, but that honestly hasn't been my focus.