You want easiest avenue, with extra income, partner up on a Rehab.  

Adding extra walls or portions of walls would add to the cost of encasing them. 

I then performed cash-out refinances to pay off the HELOC loans and lock the properties into a low fixed rate mortgage.The difficulty was, in my own personal experience, doing cash-out refinances is more expensive and the rates are much higher than conventional financing.  

There's been difficulties setting up my checking account at the local bank and rollover of my funds from Fidelity.

SELLER CONCESSIONSSeller concessions include, but are not limited to, the following:Payment of the buyer’s VA funding feePrepayment of the buyer’s property taxes and insuranceGifts such as a television set or microwave ovenPayment of extra points to provide permanent interest rate buydownsProvision of escrowed funds to provide temporary interest rate buydowns,Payoff of credit balances or judgments on behalf of the buyerSeller concessions do not include payment of the buyer’s closing costs or payment of points as appropriate to the market.Any seller concession or combination of concessions which exceeds 4% of the established reasonable value of the property is considered excessive, and unacceptable for VA guaranteed loans. 

Is an effect counter argument that the down payment is small but I'm paying you an extra $150,000 more then anyone else, not to mention the interest you make on the $550,000 for the 5 years?

I had a few friends with properties in Minneapolis and Wisconsin who were having similar difficulties until they found a  local provider.

If you are making HUD offers from out of the area there are a few extra steps that need to be taken to submit offers and tender a closing.

For you if you self manage, or difficulty finding a company interested in managing if you choose to hire someone.- property is cheap for a good reason...

How much is fix up with an extra 20% fudge factor for problems that will occur?