I'd be careful when getting close to the end of the draw period in case you cannot refinance right away.Just be careful to have a plan to reimburse the HELOC quickly if rates were getting out of control since your primary residence is on the line!

You can control the size of the area by the +/- map size, use a square foot range and control the time frame by choosing 30, 60, 90 days.

Stay in control of everything you are responsible for.  

They recently ran Uber out of town, put restrictions on short term rentals, and some members of the city council have great ideas like rent control.

Keep control of everything you you are responsible for.  

Doesn't matter how neglected the property is, doesn't matter that the tenants are rent controlled and 30% below market rents, all that matters is the magic words "2-4 unit" and "on the MLS."

If done correctly (not necessarily like this example, which just made for easy math) the investor typically gets substantially more cash out at refinance than they put in intially, in addition to continuing to control the asset.

I can see the advantages of controlling a property that way, however, at the end of the day, I am in essence buying the property for the balance of the note.

Or you can keep it simple but less precise and just use the broad approach you described in the original post, but make sure you are using population data for the entire region, not just the central city.

I personally like the control and I get along great with the other agent. :)To further clarify, if I had a 6% listing agreement I don't think I'd ever agree to reduce down to 3%, I don't care how much work you claim you'll be able to do without me.