My question is can I take out a HELOC on the equity I have?

Up until the trustee sale (foreclosure auction), the home is still owned and fully controlled by the home owner.I’m assuming you’re going to be looking at off-market properties (since loan status isn’t something they advertise on the MLS so you likely wouldn’t even know if it was in default if it’s a listed property).So, in that case, you’d just negotiate a purchase agreement with the home owner and then take the contract to your local escrow/title company to open escrow. 

That's also not a ton of numbers to dial on Mojo, that would probably take you a week or two to call through, maybe 30 days if doing only a couple hours per day.

After 6 months, or 1 year (whatever time limit required), I take a cash out refinance (probably up to 75%) on "my" property to buyout the other owner (grandma).3.

Tenants frequently do not take good care of the properties, and the government requires certain standards for the condition of the units.

Lot going on here so I would try to slow things down a bit and take smaller bites of the apple. 

So be careful - but also there are some counties that have land banks that take it back and will do something with it

Can someone please clarify this for me - if I take out a HELOC on my primary residence to purchase an investment property would that have to be for 100% of the cost of the investment property or can I just take out enough for a down payment? 

Taking this extra step ensures veterans have the same opportunity as others to compete in a tight housing market.

Then focus in on the comps that have the same bed/bath/sqf and take the average.The rate?