We have forced appreciation and each property that hits a $1,450,000 or higher valuation we refinance as many of these as we can on Freddie Small Balance loans, first 2-3 yrs interest only, 10 yrs fixed under 4% fixed.  

I'm looking for some feedback based on other investors experience. We live in a B class suburban neighborhood in the Midwest and are under contract to purchase a property in a nearby C+ neighborhood (closing in less t...

If you have a good deal where you can force appreciation and keep costs in line it’s a great tool.

Passive investors like those types of investments for both cash flow and appreciation at sale (forced value add is very frequently a large component of the plan).

I am selling most of my real estate and redeploying into real estate that has forced appreciation: flips, value-add syndications, etc.  

So yes the costs do impact your yield which is why they should be included in your calculations. 

This is drastically more difficult if it's an OOS market.Many people suggest investing locally for a first investment for many reasons, one of them being it tends to be easier to build that strong team - meeting them in person, meeting at the property, etc. can be very beneficial.That being said, if your local market simply DOES NOT meet your criteria for an investment, don't try to force it.  

The only thing that impacts you is the CF. 

Back due rent just means that the previous owner may not have been very forceful with deadlines and/or removing bad eggs.

The plan would be to pay back the HELOC using rental income (or just our income if we don't have renters) for about 6 months to season the loan and hopefully build a tiny bit of equity (both through hopefully natural appreciation and forced appreciation in the form of renovations).