1:Without knowing the details, I would probably choose to simply get a HELOC on the new property as soon as possible.  

The reason is simply supply and demand ... if there an abundance of high paying jobs and it is generally a desirable place to live, then many wealthy people will pay a premium to live there, and they will generally prefer to live there long term and favor owning over renting ... this is reflected in the market pricing. 

There is much to discover in just driving the streets when you pick a an area to explor. 

The reason is that, as you will discover, finding the abandoned property is just a small part of making the deal.

Regardless of what they think, we probably simply need to look at our local economy to decide how things will turn out.

Many hours were wasted on a sales pitch to entice into continued education that cost $41,297 for Diamond Enrollment, $26,297 for Platinum Enrollment, and $21,297 for Gold enrollment".The upshot is, you DON'T need to spend thousands on discovering so-called secrets of real estate success (before you even find a deal)!

Or do you simply just say ever dollar of profit is all profit, not a percentage of a return?

The next day I poured through the HOA docs to discover that they had changed the rules back in October.

If you follow this recipe, one day you will wake up to discover, in a relatively short period of time (10 years), that your balance sheet is good and that the funds you used to achieve such a thing were provided by a tenant...or 81 tenants.  

Simply liking, sharing, and commenting when you have beneficial information to contribute.