I agreed to handle one of their portfolios for free (he's actually still with us nearly 15 years later) if he would build out a system to help us build out the database system.

Bham is a great market.

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

Later I was able to buy the vacant lot between for a grand total of about 2.4 acres.All the houses are in bad shape.

From out of the country with a house that you did not see??

Yes, a HELOC or bank a line of credit is different than a lump-sum amortizing mortgage (DSCR or otherwise).

@Albert Johnson sounds great, but wholesalers will lock you into a contract with the hope of selling it off to someone else and pocket the difference. 

But ABNB felt so 'authoritarian' (once again for lack of a better word)....including stuff like removing my SuperHost status for a mistake of their own and not reinstating it once I proved them wrong. 

If I loose a member from one of the houses I still have income being generated from that property. 

Intent is one of the biggest ones, frequency is another.