I am trying to determine how lease option up-front option fees are taxed.

This market phase has made deal-finding much harder than 5+ years ago, but deals are still out there.I find it helpful to determine who you are targeting (maybe a certain type of distressed seller), and consider where their eyes are.

How do they determine how much you can get from a HELOC?

The purchase price is determined by cap rate.

Then use your cap rate equation with the local cap rate and new NOI to determine the purchase price.

All that being said, I think for a scenario like this in which you were interested in putting in a offer,  I would not rely on the 50% rule to determine expenses and do a line by line item expense analysis based on historicals (from a T12 provided by owner) and the "proper" expense base.

By using "D" you can quickly determine if it meets your "D" threshold or not. 

Provide the COI to your qualifying lender and they will determine your down payment if any.

@Jared Brinn That is an important questions each investor must determine the answer to.

I had to actually go to one of their meetings to determine that it was not permitted and ended up backing out of the deal.