Deciding whether to sell or rent out your home hinges on financial factors like immediate cash needs versus long-term income goals, alongside market conditions in your area—favorable for selling if it's a seller's market or for renting if there's high demand for rentals. 

When looking for a SFH there's several factors to contribute to a great rental rate: Location, Condition, Time of Year, Functionality, City Cert requirements needed (if applicable).I absolutely wish that I could 'Turn back the clock' and do house hacking and jump into real estate investing that way...so many great benefits!

Is that for your entire personal tax return with the properties included? 

Then, once you own it, you can look into refinancing without the risk of a lender failing to perform.As for which strategy to choose, think about picking one that fits your situation and has the best chance of success, especially since you're new to investing and live in another country.Vision the follwoings:Option 1: BRRR - This involves a lot of micromanaging and supervision work during the renovation process, including dealing with contractors, permits, and other details.

Be sure when you are mathing out your next purchase, you include the cost of the HELOC. 

This criteria is for 1-4 and 5-8 unit programs.I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23DSCR lenders generally let you vest either individually or as an LLC.

I have seen crazy claims from ADU developers including attempts to indicate a value based on income.  

The 400k$ quote is for a quite extensive whole house remodel (moving walls, windows, openings, expanding footprint and +1 bath, +1bed) and includes design, consultants and permits.

However, if the $4k/month also includes utilities and other maintenance (i.e. gardening, pool service, etc.) then you'll have to factor that in as well. 

I was using Mint to track my personal finances, including real estate transactions and net worth, and found it really useful.