Once a person lets earnest money  go hard, they become emotionally attached.If you find yourself in a situation, where there was something majorly different than what you realized, then it is my firm opinion that it is best to let the seller have your earnest money and take stage left.Remember, no deal is better than a bad deal.No, I have not always been the master of that particular principal.

I am a life-long resident of West Virginia and will more than likely always stay in WV.

Better pricing if they also insured your personal home.

I haven't used Investor Carrot personally and know many people are happy with it.

The biggest mistake of my life was not keeping 50 or so more of the 500 I flipped, cost me millions Sure I made some money but guess what, I had to go back each week and flip another.

My personal approach to this, I don't seek for a positive cash flow if I have bare minimum equity in the property.

HELOC's are used for personal expenses or home improvements.

While I am fine renting while I search for the right investment, my dream would be to build (for my own personal home).

But back to my first point, if you can use the "tax benefits" at all, if so how much, and how they effect taxes owed at the back end of the deal are all unique to each person's situation.As for refinances, some syndicators model refi's and other's don't.  

A month later now, they are insisting I come and see the place in person and see "how well it turned out".