That way you get the price you need and there is someone with experience making sure all the important benchmarks are being hit (inspections, surveys, etc.).All that being said - would you cash flow if you rented the house out?

Should we put about $15k into the loan at our duplex so we can hit the 80% LTV in order to refi ourselves into a conv so we can then use FHA on another multi unit?

First of all, thank you Bigger Pockets for such a wonderful website to connect and learn from professionals in such an efficient manner!

I've had hit and miss pricing that way.

You're really close to hitting the 1% rule as well.Seems like a good property to hold.

As values increase, keep taking more HELOCs - which they can do until something in their lives hits the fan and the owner can't keep up with the payments.

@Tony Castronovo hit it right.

Yard work is fine, though I’m certainly no pro with it.Is this just a matter of speed and efficiency at some point?

 Given those numbers, assuming they spend an extra $50K on rehab to hit $250K ARV, that's about $15K of extra profit in their pocket for a lot of work and risk. 

The purpose of your first deal is to set yourself up for your second, third, fourth, fifth deal.If your expectation is to hit a home run on your very first at-bat, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.