He's been with us for more than 8 years and I don't think he's going anywhere soon.For a 6-unit building we bought in 2019, the previous owner hadn't raised rents in a million years and they were substantially below market.

Depending on piping and clearances you may be able to raise the existing boiler.

Looking to buy and hold, but I plan on wholesaling to raise capital.

You will meet some seasoned people at the REIA, but mostly newbs, a lot of great people, but always a few shady characters who try to "make deals" or "raise money".

Since I'm not near my market often, I have decided to educate myself as much as possible while raising capital.

I believe we would be able to raise over 100k with a HELOC.

Perhaps you can collect an additional deposit for utilities to raise your deposit monies.

Say nothing about the cats and just raise the rent on renewal. 

How much will it enable you to raise rent? 

Enjoy your home, raise funds elsewhere and your equity will probably be even more in 18 years when the kids are done in school.