I have this idea that I will buy a 2-3 Bedroom town home while I am over there for grad school and live in it and rent the extra rooms out to help may the mortgage. 

In that case I would choose the HELOC with the stipulation that the reno will increase rents high enough for the extra income to pay off the HELOC within 2 years time.

It extended the life of a crappy abused laminate countertop that had chips and burns on it for another 2 years and running for $100 out of pocket.

This can give me 5 extra hours of reading/listening time per week.

Since they have been great tenants, I would just charge extra pet rent!

It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees.

If you're going to save $500/month, I think that will be pretty fast.If you're worried about extending your pay-off, you could always put that extra money towards the mortgage each month or check out "velocity banking."

Basically, anything other then 25% down and bank financing could qualify.Using a HELOC for a down payment is a pretty common strategy.You need to look at what the extra costs of the HELOC will be and figure that into your calculations, probably off-line in a spread sheet.

@Cassidy Burns Thanks!

(If so, they will probably charge you extra to bring installers out that far).