Also, I would recommend looking closely at the credit reports for prospective tenants and seeing what they have in terms of debt, collections, etc.

With my previous Broker, they weren't as generous with this and collected whatever my previously agreed-to split was on a standard transaction i.e., if my split was 70/30, the Brokerage would take 30% of the 3% on my personal transactions just as they would on a non-personal sale. 

Next subtract the optimism along with a few percent and decide if a heloc would make sense.

Right now there is a lot of uncertainty and expectation that real estate will lose value, rents will go down, vacancy will go up and collections will be poor.

The insurance company said their are currently collecting info and have not decided yet how to proceed.

If they are good, and they protect your asset, collect your rent and manage all of the Maintenance for a reasonable price they are worth it if you have a decent size portfolio. 1-5 units is manageable by an individual.

My credit is at 650, due to an old collection and late student loans (-__-), FHA was perfect for me because of my low credit score. 

Collect your own data, and make your own conclusions.

We are still under 3rd party financing contingency, collection seems to be strong (according to broker) and we are getting a new roof, and some credits. 

This could open up doors for off-market deals in the future- Access to market data- Ability to sell your own deals and collect commission to offset licensing and mls fees.