That other investor I keep mentioning  wants positive cash flow on day one.You might should call the area's properties and act like a renter fishing around to know their price for renting, their floor plan mix, and are there any specials used to increase their occupancy. 

Sometimes a tenant will play your friend in order to avoid a rent increase.

Great strategy especially if you use the cash out for more investment deals which hopefully increases ROI.

Moving to a dedicated flip 5, buy 1 buy strategy,  help me move away from a "transactional" mindset , flipping with no goal other than to increase the size and volume of flips (which was becoming exhausting) to a grower mindset.

Buy properties in good neighborhoods that only need light renovation to increase rent.

The value add will be mostly in increasing the projects occupancy from low 70s% to market occupancy (about 94% physical, 91-92% economic).

Of course there are risks associated with that such as increasing your debt, but most HELOC payments are a minimum of 1% of the outstanding balance.

They will crunch in the numbers and let you know the max amount you are eligible to borrow (with higher down payment your borrowing power increases). 

@Mike Calabrese your RE IQ will increase over time and you will be able to do your own preliminary inspections and estimate a rehab in less than 30 minutes.

Will this approved amount change (hopefully increase) after docs have been submitted and reviewed?