Using a line of credit is ok, if you are paying the LOC balance with property income.

@Allen Collier, I would not risk suffering a vacancy at a time that will be difficult to rent the property.

I was just paying my statement balances to avoid interest charges, but when we started shopping for a new primary residence I heard about this strategy and began paying the current balance instead right before they reported and it made a noticeable difference since I my credit report now had near $0 on all my revolving credit.

It can be difficult to get a cash-flowing property (or break-even) with 100% financing UNLESS you're doing some rehab on it.VA loans are great tools, but it can often make sense to buy a property you will live in and rent out a room or two to some roommates. 

Unfortunately me not being from MA makes this search even more difficult but I guess i'll be giving the city a nice drive as I did for worcester! 

Hiring an attorney and trying to collect would likely be difficult and expensive.

I’m with Nadia...not know what the expenses are makes it difficult to determine if it’s a good buy or not.

See all the 0% balance transfer credit cards solicitation you get in the mail now days?

Self management isn't all that difficult—it requires some dedication and optimism when you find yourself dealing with the more annoying "human" problems (i.e. negotiating a tenant not paying rent or destroying your home, etc.) but there's plenty of tradeoff.

The reason I like the HELOC over the cash-out refinance is the HELOC pretty much acts like a credit card - you only pay (and accumulate interest) on your current balance.