There is no reason not to take full advantage of such a fantastic loan product. 

I’ve been meaning to tell everyone about this fantastic HELOC product I got for months, but I’ve forgotten to do the post.

If you can find houses that are similar in square footage and finishes to the finished product you are shooting for, you should be good to go.Practically speaking, however, sometimes there just aren't enough sold properties in the neighborhood you're looking at.

Test your contractors / handy people out on small jobs first, and ask pointed questions before assigning tasks to determine not only if they are "comfortable" doing the work, but ask: "How many times have you done this specific type of job, and can you show me pics of the end product?"

There are some pretty nice discounts on many products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proI really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

The rental business is like every other business in the world where the business owners try to get as much money as possible for their products and services.

. :-)If you think you have to do it, at least maintain control over the end product so you get a look befitting the place.

A ton of people waive contingencies and then use loan products that literally don't allow that and it cracks me up.

A portfolio loan is when the bank lends their own money and uses their own custom loan product to do so.

NOLO put out a great book covering tax:https://store.nolo.com/product...