I would use the HELOC to pay off the first and pay down the HELOC as I sell some other property.It seems to me it is smart to use the HELOC as a first as opposed to a 15 or 30 year fixed because there will be times when I can have it completely paid off and not have to pay interest on my primary versus be locked in and have times when I just have cash sitting in the bank account.  

Jordan Gobely I think it is smart to do your homework.

But I wasn't sure how reliable the SOW was given that I hadn't commissioned the SOW myself.So I had two choices:Choice 1 (the smart one): WAIT for a day to call MY general contractor and get him in to do his own estimate.

My thought process is two fold...The Altruistic Side Of MeLower Income Tenants without the education or awareness of the major changes in building codes and green product technology over the last 15 years, coupled with investors that are not financially motived to make improvements that don't have hard objective returns have left a large portion of our population paying more than 15% of their income toward utility bills.

Hello my name is James Gleeson and I am an Engineering student at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla MO.

Obviously one smart fellow!

My question is does this sound like a smart approach?

I see many people saying it never happens, but it absolutely DOES happen and planning your business around hoping something doesn't happen isn't a smart move. 

Smart investors continue to ride the wave, but are quick to pull out or ready to profit from it. 

I especially appreciate the frank advice one of the commenters left. https://la.curbed.com/2017/7/13/15951074/buy-house...Let me tell you how smart buyers are getting deals done these days. 1. the offer price matters the most. 2. short contingencies are key. you can offer to do your inspections in 7 days – the reality is once you are in escrow if you need a few days more, most sellers will not be in a position to do anything about it. they don’t want to try and re-create the bidding scenario again.