While buying existing property or pre-construction is a pretty safe bet (assuming the developer is honest and properly financed like everywhere else of course), developing is another story.

Another benefit of a Heloc is that you don't touch your current mortgage on your primary and  get to keep your current rate.

The state paid about $35,000 down for us and our mortgage was about $820/month ($123k loan amortized over 30 years at 4.5%).

The Deal Dog does not work properly, it only gives me auction.com properties. 

I will be able to cash out my original down payment + 30k more if I wanted to but as im going through the process I was wondering in the future if I pursue investing full time how do you still get approved for mortgages?

It can actually be riskier (investment wise) as you are not getting a traditional check every month, but added responsibility that you will hold onto the lump sum throughout the 3 month tenancy to accommodate for repairs, mortgage payments etc... 

HOA is crazy at $1000 per month and mortgage is $5200 without HOA.

Wondering  if I should reach out to local credit unions or maybe a mortgage broker?

This is so that the lender may demand full repayment if a property with a mortgage is transferred into an LLC and a due-on-sale provision is triggered.Before putting the property into an LLC, make sure to check with your mortgage lender.

Or are you concerned whether you will be able to conduct the walkthrough properly with furniture and personal belongings blocking views?