When a rental is taken out of service for personal use the accumulated depreciation goes away over a short period of time. 

There is no seasoning requirement involved since the property isn't a short sale and it isn't someone buying REO from a bank with a seasoning requirement.

Shortly after they all became vacant, I had to do the renovation work myself because of the lack of cash flow, and it took years to dig myself out of that hole.

If it's worth that much, taking a HELOC on it should not be an issue at all long-term or short-term as long as the bank will do it.

Not a ton of value-add opportunity, more of a core+ investment in a very small market I'm familiar with - my initial analysis is yielding a 14% IRR & 1.28 EM, so I'm not sure of the attractiveness to investors.

Conveniently located in Bryan TX, within walking distance to A&M Bus stop and a short 5 minutes drive to College Station, home to the largest university in the state, Texas A&M.

@Jordyn Ohsnot enough info to helpbut if you're using a HELOC for the down payment AND getting a loan, then you're probably negative cash flow given that's 100% leveragei would never do that unless i were going to refinance in the short term

-Focusing on markets with solid job growth and population trends.Columbus has been great for me, but there are plenty of solid markets depending on your goals (cash flow vs appreciation, short vs long-term, etc.).

In my mind sub to is for short term .. long term rentals is very problematic for many reasons. 

Ultimately, the decision should align with your long-term and short-term goals.