The investors who just understand that this stuff is gonna happen & just factor it into their plan can see the humor in it.

As far as management goes, I would search BP forums and blogs for tips on managing a property as an absentee owner.Whether or not the HELOC is a good idea depends on a number of factors.

A triplex would be ideal but i can’t find any in my price range in this market (250,000 or less).

Not having the ability to write a check for it and realizing that the location is not ideal for many businesses, I decided to do have an initial conversation with a local hospital about their need for office space.

A couple major factors are:  1.

Another thing you could do is to prepare a scope of work for each unit and acquire bids, ideally 3 on each item. 

I factored in the two biggest CapX items (new roofs, new boilers) at purchase to arrive at my offer price...  

Will depend on several factors like the type of property, type of tenants, your risk tolerance, other assets you own, your estate planning, laws where the property is located, etc.Any lawsuits would be limited to the assets of the LLC and not your personal assets (assuming you run the LLC appropriately and the corporate veil is not pierced).

I would love to be near the Glen Ridge, Bloomfield or Watsessing train stations ideally since my wife needs to commute to the city.

Depending on the strength of the market, I will charge 15 - 25% more for a month-to-month lease to mitigate the increased risk of departure under less-than-ideal circumstances.