Definitely join your local chapter of REIA (real estate investors association) or join one of the ones that are fully online (Columbus and Cincinnati).

Again even if you have great credit as you start to add more credit cards, mortgages, auto loans to your credit you can also be viewed as "High risk" due to Excessive trade lines in credit or higher DTI - debt to income ratios. 

having a HELOC to have an emergency line is smart since if you really need it in a crunch you could draw funds within 1-2 days or less in most cases.

Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books on this topic, or you can learn about it by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum.

Just acquired a property in a small North Texas very rural town. No building inspections or permits exist out there. The previous homeowner enclosed the back porch and was using it as a 3rd bedroom. By doing this the ...

any pro forma that shows you 'cash flow' on day 1 or in month 1 or even year 1 is a joke.here's the bottom line. 

U can do 100% if you want but you should have plenty of cash on hand as well. 

I also have a $175,000 line of credit ready if something catastrophic happens.

You will meet a lot of great people here that will help you on your journey. 

And what is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper"?