You can use this HELOC to fund future investments.Before you go buy that big, fancy, expensive “forever home” consider buying a 2-4 multi-family property with an FHA loan or some Live in flips.  

After the year I plan on keeping things as is, so that net cash flow can mitigate any rental expense that I myself incur (i pay 525 mo for a 1 bed apartment).Do you guys think its a good idea to get a source of passive income in the midwest (where I currently work), to offset my rental expense, and future rental expense if i ever decide to move to a more expensive area?

I haven't allowed for much of a ramp up period and as a result, haven't budgeted the funds to cover the expenses in the beginning.

If he can’t get financing today he likely won’t in 24 months so putting a balloon on it isn’t going to likely work and will just result in you getting the property back but  with needed repairs and deferred maintenance which will be a huge expensive headache .  

I have thought of the sliding scale for turnover expense vs time elapsed - is your current PM doing that?  

I still allocated that 10% property management expense just in case I choose to hire someone in the future.  

They are sometimes used heavily and generate monthly profit while others are barely used and don't even cover the utility expenses, let alone the cost of the machines.

They're not expensive and will let you sleep better. 

During the event, they offer their more expensive membership/coaching.)  

If you haven't heard of them already some quick rules of thumb are to look for properties that rent for 1% or more than the purchase price and generally you should expect about 50% of your rental income to go back out in expenses like property management, capital expenditure, maintenance, vacancy etc.