Less peace of mind due to increased debt, but trade off is better use of OPM.I will say we are leaning to taking out the line of credit for the pros mentioned above, but excited to hear your perspectives. 

Some negative factors:-all that’s been mentioned about risks with townhome HOA’s-having 90+ units mostly the same can slow down appreciation dramatically.

I am aware of the tax benefits however like I may have mentioned, my next step in my investment adventure is to fix a house up and sell it in less than a year.  

You didn't mention whether or not you plan to live in one of the units in the 4-plex, but I imagine you are or you wouldn't be able to finance with a 203(k) loan.I guess a lot of it depends on whether you have the funds to do the renovations without the loan, and whether you want to do some of the renovation work yourself?

I recommend using the city PD's map of registered crimes: http://www.slmpd.org/crime_mapping.shtmlBut if you're really interested in SFH, you might also consider the areas in STL County that some of the others mentioned, i.e.

The wrecked house is apparently from the '40s so everything you've mentioned could be present in spades as well as other contaminants.If there's access to the property, recent sales as well as a zillow estimate is pointing at about 60k for the entire thing, but that's assuming just flat land. 

@Brian Foster forgot to mention But maybe it is a preference deal.

Thus far he hasn't consulted legal counsel though he has mentioned it - but he has been transfixed on the eviction.  

He's also mentioned putting the proceeds from sale into an annuity, so he may entertain owner financing which could sweeten the deal.  

Also down the line you can get into road block getting more heloc like you mentioned the snowball effect.