I've been working for myself as an internet marketing contractor for about two years now and not making spectacular money.

You could pay down the HELOC with cash flow possibly and unless your property appreciates spectacularly in 12 months, refinancing won't work

The growth isn't as spectacular, but my rental yields are higher.

I bought 3 a year and had one or two years with 4 and one year with 2 (went out of country to adopt).Nothing spectacular.

I'd rather have a 2/1 with spectacular numbers than a 3/2 with marginal numbers.

I'd buy $140k duplexes in ok condition all day (most areas get atleast $700 because of Section 8 payments) but $200k for a really nice duplex...harder call unless there is something spectacular about it.

For year 1, our €9000 gain in equity equals a ROI of 5.3% (€131,250 equity / €9000 debt payoff), which is decent but certainly not spectacular, given that we could simply sell the house, pay off the debt and invest the gained equity elsewhere.

If my investments failed so spectacularly that I lost all everything I invested, our lives would remain unchanged, except that we no longer have a 401k asset.  

I think the problem that most newer investors fall into is latching onto a home and playing with the numbers so much that eventually it looks like a good deal and not a spectacular deal.

I think whatever rehab you do is going to have to be spectacular because the houses in that neighborhood rehabbed are on the market for a very long time, One is on the market now for 160+ days and the last rehab took close to 300 days to sell.