I'm looking for a new lender for this HELOC product and I see this as the only solution if I'm going to keep my low-rate, first position mortgage intact.

Whichever strategy that you choose, run your numbers, and definitely consider all the other benefits of owning real estate i.e. appreciation, loan pay-down, potential housing expense decrease and/or cash flow. 

Nothing is different with Airbnb other than those hosting avail privately owned real estate for commercial purposes and only here its at the hosts’ personal expense to acquire the license and pay the tax.

Meaning, the lender will usually determine the average tax % for the area after improvements have been made and they'll use this amount to determine your debt ratio as opposed to the original/artificially low taxes that are assessed on the raw land.     

@Hannah Potter Here are the things that many CPAs support their clients with:Understanding tax impact of short-term vs. long-term vs. flip before you buyWhich entity structure is best for goals and investment property typeTax and compliance on LLC or S-CorpHow to transfer property out of personal name into LLC (hard to buy 1st through entity)Ways to optimize taxes throughout the yearHow best to set up accounting to track income and expenses (doing this late is a mess)Feedback on property management systems, accounting systems. systems, etcEstimated payments to avoid penaltiesKnowing when to file and getting things in on timeMaybe a few things I missed, but this is the high-level ….. if you can get answers to the above questions on your own, plan, and file your own taxes then you can avoid the expense of a CPA.

Wanted me to pay for all their supposed expenses by reducing the rent.

These are independent contractors and should not be employees (very expensive if they are.)Please consult with a licensed CPA and Attorney in your state.Good Investing...

Rental bought in 2023 and initial return.For assets - Cash, depreciable assets less accum deprn, landFor liabilities - Open credit card balances (Charged rental improvements and expenses on 0% interest credit card)Partnership equity - Cash contributions less net lossMy assets are greater than liabilities + partnership equity

Open up a separate bank account just for your rental activity.At the end of the year, export the date into excel and properly classify each transaction as income or an expense.

Numbers look good with fairly low barrier to enter.