I actually just did a dscr loan to pay off the hard money I borrowed on the second property (where we live and rent the actual house) I estimate the appraisal to come in around $215-280K which if I were to take out 80% would barley give me enough to buy anything in the FL market and have cash left over for renovations.Not sure if im missing a step here or if it might be best to buy an auction home with that cash to flip and have more capital to have more deal options. 

I'm interested in learning more about the MTR market in Philly as well @Jamie Banks.

I get a decent a mount of off market multi family deals perfect for those looking to house hack in NJ but they tend to be much higher price point

I think the #1 most ridiculous poster is the person living in a desirable, high-appreciation location who has plenty of capital to deploy who asks which crappy undesirable market thousands of miles from where they live is the best place to buy their first investment property.

HELOC are generally balance sheet meaning the loan is held on the lender's book, not sold into the secondary market.

., how well will the market be when you sell the property, and 2) capital expenditures, i.e., can you financially efficiently improve the asset to the end users (renters or users).

If you look at other threads on the Chicago market this topic comes up a lot! 

I don't know if there is an "ideal real estate market" these days.

More of a cash flow than appreciation market?

I'm a bit confused on how a good listing broker could net me more when I'm already at the top of the market.