Or is it better to wait out the seasoning period with your loan balance (I used a HELOC so no hard money lenders or balloon payments) and just refi out in 6 months?

Everyone doubles their money and the house is yours.You have to do the math on contributions and payouts.

Kinda almost if once the money was there from the sale , then the vultures come .  

If you were to put aside the money that would go to extra payments, what interest rates would you get on that (ie would it make more money sitting in a high yield savings account instead of paying down a low interest rate mortgage)? 

I would like to start investing soon, but my full time is brokering for Hard/Private money loans.

Todays interest rate environment it is not a bad idea because it will be challenging to get returns that meet your interest rate you are payingIf your loan is 2-3% I would out the money in an account earning 4-5% compared to paying down a 3% mortgage - but I also get the stress relief of having a low mortgage and lots of equity

Seller has no money to pay utilities or buy groceries.

For my wife it’s the opposite.But you make a good point that real estate is not for everyone and there are other ways to make money.

If you are going to say your loan down part of your return for your net worth -- it should also be discounted, considering it is money leaving your pocket.

If I rent it, it won't cash flow more than 2%, which is sort of ok as my goals is creating a portfolio of additional income for retirement (12 years from now)  If I sell it I will likley lose a little money ($5-$10k) I Used a VA loan to purchase zero down and will be living in it for 24 months while I do the rehab.purchase price $330K, rehab $15k, Estimated ARV is $370k.