Jeff A. if feel free to pm or call if I can answer any of your questions, assist or point you in the appropriate direction.

I have knowledge of the basics, however I am Lio for a mentor/partner to assist me.

Happy assist and network.

-you don’t have to pay interest on a large fixed sum of money until you find or are ready to pull the trigger on a deal-it allows you lock in some or all of the amount at a fixed rate so your protected against rising interest rates ( given the current market conditions I believe we will see a couple more increases from the Fed this year which will increase borrowing costs for any variable rate products)- See this attached article that does a good job of simplifying it https://www.investopedia.com/mortgage/heloc/fixed-rate-option/

I have used homeloan assist-  they were ok till the end. 

Hows the arbitrage between interest free and what you can make on a house where you have to borrow with terms.2.

Nor did I want to borrow against the house to renovate it, small town bedroom community with very few jobs 30 miles away from a big city. 

First, a short sale is when the borrower owes more than the house is worth...the net proceeds from the sale.

I like the idea of being able to assist tenants become homeowners but also the business side seems lucrative. 

I figured I would check with you all though as well to get any advice you have to offer because I know there is a lot of expertise here.Thanks in advance for all your assistance.