We also set up a competely separate account for the house.

They usually have 24 month zero interest terms and if you sign up for a pro account you can score more discounts and deals.Good luck!

I have my business expenses, living expenses,  financial goals for both business and personal, and the value of my skills all accounted for in my rates.

Great insight, Account Closed!

So you're successful, but now you have $5,000 in your account plus whatever is left of your reserves.

My question is, is there no accountability for the company , FirstClose, that performed the drive by, if there value is so off from reality?

Thank you for the mention, @Alan Rohrer.I agree that being local is not required for an accountant, but is essential for an attorney. 

You'd have to draw on the HELOC and sit with it in your account for enough time that the banks don't look for the origination of it.

@Csilla Veress A couple of books that may help with understanding PV (present value) calculations, as well as note investing in general, are:Invest in Debt by Jimmy NapierPaper Profits by @Joshua Andrews  (my personal favorite)This blog post by @Mike Hartzog may also be helpful:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5359/41924-doi...PV is the way most note investors do pricing for performing notes, but for non-performing, you'll want to build an ROI calculator as  @Chris Seveney suggested so you can look at various exit scenarios and take into account costs like servicing, legal fees, insurance, etc. 

Also within that structure, what are some key transaction types you'd want to account for, within the day-to-day operations, in order to achieve high effectiveness in deferring high tax rates within your entity structure?