It may mean you have to subsidize your rental for awhile (we did), you may need to refinance if rates come down (we did - our first loan was 12%)  You will have to get your own finances in check really fast - because of subsidizing your rental (we did this too)And the quicker you have a plan the faster you can grow (this took us years to realize) Real estate can be a wild ride - but like any other major move in your life there are things you can do to prepare - especially now with the internet. 

As a creative real estate investor you are going to be wholesaling, subject-to, and lease options.......and from the money you make off of your creative transactions you are going to pay down your houses much quicker.

Their answer seemed to be they make their fee and it's quicker and they xan only flip so many homes so they pass advantage on to me.

CUT CORNERS ON THE FRONT END AND CASH FLOW PROBLEMS WILL HAPPEN A LOT QUICKER THEN ONE THINKS.

PMI (it requires we live there for about 1 year), we should have enough to put down 20-30% but my thoughts are the less we put down the quicker we can afford to purchase another rental. 

The returns are much better than most tax lien certs will earn and turnover is a lot quicker raising your annual ROI. 

Just for a smoother and quicker transaction.In order to get all my HELOC cash back out, how much will it have to appraise for?

This would be a quicker fix - but more painful.

That's what I meant to write, but I shot the reply out quicker and didn't word it properly.As a follow-up question, if I do a LLC, does that automatically make my financing options limited?

They seem to be better overall than bank loans since they loan money out quicker and usually more, but at a much higher cost.