Most of my houses are 'distressed' in some fashion and this one was no exception.

An IRA may not transact with the account holder in any direct or indirect fashion.  

Usually a heloc operates on Prime + .00 - 1.99% depending on how high in loan to value you went up to on your home (70, 80, 90, 95% LTV) etc since the higher the loan the higher the risk so as always the rate follows that risk upwards.If you pay significantly more than your monthly HELOC payment like 5-10X you can pay off your mortgage in accelerated fashion by using a first position HELOC.

Then, once I hit that point (but not sooner), I would pay them all off aggressively one by one in snowball fashion starting with the highest interest rate ... once paid off, you are done ever having to worry about money again.

Old fashioned, simple, but still works for us!  

If this had happened at the time you owned it and the issue was brought up in a reasonable timely fashion and had been fought with the appropriate level of tenacity and vigilance by the PM and it had failed, then I would pay the PM back and immediate evict the tenant....... none of that happened......Sp they didn't do their job and now they expect you to pay for that oversight ?

It's something I might pursue in the future, but living abroad currently makes something that's management intensive like Airbnb a bit of a challenge.In terms of SA, Cape Town (and the Western Cape) is an excellent place to invest compared to the rest of the country.

I'd suggest another mid-western state over Illinois. 

I'm not concerned with their fashion sense, I want to know that their credit is good, their previous landlords give good recs, and that they have a job.

We were even willing to let the owners see how we presently keep our current home as proof we would insist on maintaining their property in similar fashion but they were still strict.