Biggest downside of the HELOC, in my opinion, is that the interest rates are variable (although mine has actually decreased since last year).

The biggest thing you can do from a marketing perspective (regardless if it's DM, social, SEO, etc.) is consistency.

I am curious about what your biggest challenge with renting properties is in 2020?

No self sufficiency rule for 2 unit.Since you are in a high cost of living area, you will definitely get the biggest bang for your buck doing a low money down house hack using fha or VA loan (if you qualify) than putting 20% down on a random out of state market that you may not know very well.Best of luck!

That seems to be my biggest issue when running the numbers. 

The Homstead exemption is the biggest hurdle, so figure out how you're going to sidestep that first, as that will inform what type of property and what neighborhood you want to look at.

If it is for a landlord policy that is less egregious but I'd for sure do my own shopping around, I have yet to find a property manager who can manage doing basic math correctly 100% of the time, I sure as hell am not going to trust them to find me the best deal on insurance, when there is no incentive for them to do so.

That amount covers apartments of all sizes.These neighborhoods round out the top five most expensive neighborhoods to rent in Austin, according to Apartments.com:Market District (western section of downtown), $2,991Rainey Street, $2,425West End (just west of downtown), $2,273The Triangle (Central Austin), $2,002As for the biggest bargain for apartments in the Austin area, you’d need to look at the Uptown section of San Marcos.

Ask them if there are any vacant spaces in the park and what incentives would they offer if you brought your own home into the park.

That was one of the biggest complications.