Adding a whole other unit should raise the value of this house tremendously if I’ve been understanding what I been reading on the forums and from the books I have read.

My plan was to hold both investments for the long term so I wanted to lock in the lowest payment I could with a fixed rate.HELOC- I used this strategy when my plan was to use the money more like a credit card than the previous strategy I described.  

It could also be a sign that there's an opportunity there if the current owner has simply not raised the rent in 20 years.

I was thinking about starting an llc, and separate my finances from the rental income, so I don't lose the child support assistance and raise my student loan payments. 

I plan on raising the rents a little. 

Everyone Gets a Stack of Cards!

All and all paying 12k to fix up each of the properties (these 2 are the only ones that were in awful conditions) All of the fixes should be ready in a month according to contractor (of course it will take longer) but we are thinking of raising rent to $600 for those 2 once ready. 

If this agent has a good reputation, good contacts, has done a good job for you in the past, you plan to use them in the future and especially if they work with other investors who are competitors, I would think it would be a good idea to be upfront and honest with them and explain the situation.You could offer to give them the listing on the back end, or when you have the conversation with them you could say "I appreciate your efforts so I wanted to do something for you, it's not much, but hopefully it's enough to let you know I care and value your time, I really hope we can find another deal in the future together soon" and give them $500 in cash or a gift card or something... 

Raise rents, take care of deferred maintenance. move into worst unit to fix and remove smell.

Been busy on raising capital for an M&A rollup in another sector so delayed beginning to invest in this space.