To my surprise, the tenant was home and after a few uncomfortable moments on the porch, I assured her that my intentions were to simply understand her position in all of this.

I'm surprised it appraised for what it did given I was $10k over all other comps.

I'm still surprised (given the glowing reviews that you and Stephanie Potter have written about the neighborhood) about the lack of appreciation for that property over the last five years.

I  surprised any landlord is supporting buying a house on s well.

You'd be surprised how much gets lost in translation or is simply not relayed to the seller who is going to make the ultimate decision.

So one peice of advice is don't jump into the first deal you come across because you really want it, make sure you scrutinize everything before you buy because you don't want any surprises!

I was surprised to see the HELOC potentially being in first position, rather than subordinate to the home mortgage which has a far more significant amount of money remaining on it.  

I'd be very surprised if any further responses you get here will suddenly give you a light-bulb moment, setting you on a path that you've so far been dodging.

.), it should come as no surprise when we don't reimburse them. 

Unless if you have previous experience with construction estimates and rehab costs, I would hate for you to get into a rehab job and find out that you have a surprise repair that needs to be done.If you are new to rentals, and new to rehab, then it's tough for me to suggest that you try both for the first time at the same time.It is also good to see that you included PM in your expenses even though you are planning to manage it yourself.