I grew up learning to be debt averse and it's been a struggle undoing that learning in favor of embracing good debt.Also, I know I should be more business minded as far as my investments are concerned, but tough to disassociate myself sometimes since I've had some for so long and tenants are all good and set.

Know that going in and either decide to embrace it or labor to prove every single day, on every single deal, that you are worthy of trust.- Over the long haul the best thing you can do for your biz is to be really really ridiculously good at what you do in terms of knowing your numbers and delivering "win" opportunities to your buyers. 

If the seller is open to seller financing, a 10% down payment and 3% interest gets you to almost $200/month in cash flow, and a much healthier 8.45% cash-on-cash return.  3% is of course extremely favorable, but I've heard more than one BP podcast guest mention rates in that range:

I'm not saying you won't find good deals, but the margins are growing thinner and thinner...and some buyers are putting-off their decision to buy simply expecting a market correction.Personally speaking, I have sold already a portion of my portfolio and I am cautious now, expecting for the market conditions to unfold and ready for the opportunities to come when asset prices go back to a "healthier" level. 

If you find yourself nervous about the seller finding something out, steel yourself, embrace it, and tell them outright. 

Most landlords become adept at operating within the margins of local law, and tenants willing to play the game embrace a mafioso attitude to obtain buy outs lucrative enough for them to make a move.

The key is to embrace uncertainty - and to get more comfortable with its consequences.Of course, if you had the HELOC, the ethical dilemma of whether to proactively disclose that something changed in your living arrangement (and have to repay the HELOC balance) would be another thing to wrestle with.

Talk with some lenders in your local area and they can let you know if your deal is one that they can refi and if they can't just move on to the next one until you get a lender who embraces what you are trying to do.

Why do some landlords embrace their tenants?

It is a get rich slowly process, once you embrace that fact, you will be better suited to make better decisions and choices.