If you are in the 30% tax bracket and put in $10,000 of your own funds and you company matches that, you have effectively earned roughly $13,000 right off the top, as opposed to you being able to put $7,000 after-tax direct into your own bank account outside of the IRA.Even if the investment options of the employer plan are not great, as a savings vehicle and means to squirrel away some good tax-sheltered savings, it can be a powerful tool.If the company is contributing to an IRA (SEP or SIMPLE), you can ask to house your account in a self-directed IRA that you could then invest into things like real estate, notes, and the like. 

Having a HELOC that adjusts every five years is great though especially in the raising rate environment that we're in now.

I purchased the property with a 20 year commercial loans because the down payment funds were not seasoned in an account. 

After working with Navy federal credit union, I was able to get approved for ~600k(1-2 unit SFR), 30yr foxed,4.5%interest, 0%down, and 2.2% VA funding fee which is wrapped into the loan. 

Some companies will consider if its a real good dealFor budgeting purposes, plan on 20% of the purchase and rehab funds from your own money, plus closing costs.

It sounds like from your post there is a chance the tenants may leave if the rent is raised.  

, plus the opportunity cost of having your funds tied up in the meantime, especially if she decides to file BK.Also, if she's a friend (or even just someone in your social circle), be honest with yourself about how likely you'll be to actually foreclose on her.

I know our area has a fee they collect from every licensee and it adds to a restitution fund for instances like this where consumers can get their lost money back.

Did any of the improvememts raise the value of the property?

You will need to build reserves for these things or have another source of funds available.