KEEP IN MIND city redevelopment departments have a lot of red tape to go through and this can take months before your prospective tenant is at the mercy of the City to be approved and then follows up with your tenant checking off all the requirements boxes the city department needs your tenant to get completed before moving in /opening up its doors for business.

I want to properly analyze a property that I have inherited using the Rental Property tool...but since I am not "paying" for the property, if I put $0 in for purchase price, then projected appreciation will not calculate since that is driven off the purchase price...any suggestions on how to get around this and get a feel for projected property appreciation within the tool itself?

Hi Emma,I suggest finding a good realtor that knows about off market properties in your area.

For my clients and my own acquisitions, I prefer to do a deeper dive right off the bat; it takes just a minute or two and is more tangible. 

Yield, or the amount of cash an investment throws off, corresponds to the risk of the investment vehicle.A US Treasury bill is incredibly low risk, so it has low yields say 4% currently.

Not saying don't do it, just saying it is a trade off.

If am lending personally am I able to write off taxes from the interest from the HELOC, or would I only be able to do that with an LLC or S-corp?

They make money off of the fees going in.

You've already identified where you want to be and what type of RE you want to do...so those are 2 huge goals that you've identified right off the bat.All it takes now is money to get into the game.

One final thought, as I assume you are a first time investor, looking to invest out of area in “a risky high cash flow deal” sets the stage for you to be ripped off by a fast talker.