Also increasing coverage a lot does not cost much as the insurance company knows that suits above $1m are rare.  

They built community centers, and increased the police force by nearly 35%. 

@Phil Baker do yo think oil is poised for a large increase?

@Patrick MartoneIf you refi out of your HELOC, your line of credit will be closed and you will no longer have access to it.If you have a bunch of equity in the subject property, you could ask the bank to increase the line OR or you could get a new first and at the same time pay down and subordinate the HELOC.

There are places like Indianapolis and Milwaukee with $50k duplexes that rent for $600/side.If your property isn't losing money and you want to keep it, I'd try to find a way to increase your rent (renovations, etc) or cut your costs (change insurance, refi, etc).As far as amortization, my feeling is that you either want no loan, a very short loan (so you will own it free and clear soon), or a very long loan (so you can cash-flow better).

The Porsche increases in value and rents every year and eventually the rental cash flow is a high ratio to purchase price. 

As FHA values were just increased in Cook County for 2018 by 40K for almost every type of property.

Generally, insurance payouts reduce the basis in the property while the funds spent to make the repairs either increase the basis or might be able to be expensed all at once, depending on the nature of the repair/replacement and total funds spent per item.

Concentrate on savings, living frugally will be your best approach to increasing savings.

I was hoping to refi in a few years and get cash back out at the new value after rents are increased.