HELOC's can be a great tool when investing in real estate but be careful of tying up your line as a down payment on properties and essentially 100% financing them using other properties as collateral.

I'm sure this is not the best way being the results I'm seeing is the contractors buying way more materials than are required for the job and buying tools and equipment on the account when not authorized ect...  

There is a property analyzer tool you can use here on the site that will give you more accurate numbers.

I'm still learning myself, and fortunately we have a tool like BP to assist in those questions.

I'm definitely excited to use this tool.

I signed up for BP pro so I can use their tools to train myself in finding deals in my market.Can't wait to meet new and great people here!!

Starting young is the most powerful tool in investing. good for you to begin this early in your life. 

To be honest, I was a bit dismayed by the replies so I just drove the twelve hours to show up in person...Unfortunately there are certain generations of people whom I believe see the internet as a marketing tool "to get there name out there" and not a business tool.

Now that I've essentially achieved my goals, I'm ready to get back into the real estate game as I sell my current home and pull out my equity which would give me plenty to throw down a few down payments.  

Be sure to take advantage of all the resources here, including the podcasts, e-books and investment tools.