After all, LTR typically have a lower MRR and will need to deal with evictions probably more often.

Each servicer treats the loan a little differently, and some may ultimately report the loan on your credit. 

That said, I think most people perceive these two cities to be pretty much on par with each other in terms of crime.Maybe I'm wrong...

so if this is your very first deal - i would pass. 

I want to buy a new private home and use my current primary residence equity (plus some cash) to buy a new primary house cash and then sell the old one.So, I am looking for a HELOC with little to no closing costs, as I will retain the money only for as long as I am selling my old house after buying a new one.Any advice?

It costs them nothing to fix it and you have a year warranty so you’re not getting a mechanical discount. 

Any agent who has worked with investors or owned their own rentals would have a good idea of the costs of maintenance and repair.

If less than two years, cost seg probably isn't a good route.

I'm ultimately looking for 5+ unit deals but understand that 99.9% of the deals that come through are going to be SF and Duplexes, and that's okay. 

We did the cost seg year one so all the tricky accounting is out of the way.