My fear with doing the latter is the fact that a HELOC is looked at like any other revolving line of credit and that would badly impact my DTI...any thoughts?

I've done a bit of research on them and they don't seem so bad to me.

Is that my bad? 

I could install a WiFi system and lock the control box, so only I can control it from my phone (so that tenants will have no choice but to water the lawn) but I could see tenants getting upset due to high water bills.This is solely about mitigating foundation issues for me, not about keeping a nice looking lawn.

These will be my first two properties and it will give me a way in the industry, but I also don't want to make a bad financial decision.

Second choice is a 4 plex in CO with tenants!  

Giving up so much money upfront is bad business. 

I think I've found what it is: International Paper Masonite Omniwood - the bad part is there was a class action lawsuit against this siding type, I think because of poor quality and not being able to stand up to the 30-year warranty.

Premier is also good choice. 11k seems really high unless you have lots of decking that needs replacing or multiple layer to remove.

A "simple" split in my county costs about $5000 (most of which is for surveying and plats) and takes around 4 months to complete - so not bad.