This was caused from a drainage issue that was addressed only a few years ago, but the damage from years of water is done.

Screen tenants and get the most qualified ones you can and require a large deposit of they don't have good credit and background checks.

@Steve Vaughan  also very much depends on where in the US it is.. and what your tenant base is..some tenant bases around the country are peach's and cream and not tough on property and pay on time.and rarely does  a unit go vacant one moves out 3 to 5 days to clean and turn it another moves in.in other parts of the country tenants move a ton.. are tougher on the homes.. bigger credit risks IE don't pay and it can take more money to turn them over  and longer time finding new tenant.. so it depends.. but 50% is a good rule of thumb if your having to hire it all out that's for sure. 

I would surely use this towards buying a deal if I needed to and handle emergencies with a credit card if necessary.

If you can, put the remainder of the renovations on a smaller personal loan/ zero interest credit card/ etc.

Is that damage from the hurricanes?

Hey Jeff, we are at this very moment are about do a 100% heloc (primary) with our local credit union.

So we purchased for 130k with 5k seller credit, 27k rehab, and appraised for 175k.

be organized.Example:3 months goalEnroll in real estate class-network and meet at least 3 real estate related professionalsSave XXX dollars toward first purchaseWork on marketing strategy, and overall strategy (define markets, focus will be SFR, buy and hold with 150.00 cash flow etc) 6 month goal--pass real estate exam--Save xxx--Improve credit score from 675 to 745make these goals quantifiable and specific, in other words you can cross them off when you get them done.The plan won't be perfect buy it's a plan and you show you are executing on it. 

After all, it is a line of credit, not a mortgage.