Looking to reduce cost. 

First, taking out a mortgage against your home should allow you to reduce your adjusted gross income by the amount of the interest that you are paying for the loan.

If that were the case then nobody would use leverage.When an IRA engages in a debt-financed investment the portion of income that is derived from the borrowed funds is considered taxable - so 65% of gross rental income in my example.However, you have a $1,000 exemption off the top, and then get to apply the same ratio - in this case 65% - of all the normal deductions like interest on the note, depreciation, property taxes, etc. to reduce the amount of income that is taxable.The net taxable income will then generally be a pretty low number. 

The bulk of my retirement income is rentals.

With construction costs the way they are the design fees aren't the largest cost to manage on any development and having someone who knows what they are doing and is able to be thorough enough to reduce change orders as well as being able to think on their feet when questions occur. 

House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs!

Working directly with sellers is the bulk of the equity capture I need at the buy.Look for tired plexes, carpet and a dumpster in the driveway, yard/moving sale holders, places for rent and to your circle you deal with regularly. 

You are already claiming the interest portion from the mortgage payment, so not sure if using the LOC to reduce your mortgage is a good idea.  

Any environmental issues must be contended with, zoning or land use violations will come to light when a property goes under contract and may kill any sales or drastically reduce the property’s market value.

For example my 2 bedroom with 2 TVs jumped to $170, I had to call in and get them to reduce it to $80.