I currently have 3 SFR in various stages of rehab and I am closing on a MFR of 14 units in a couple of weeks.I live in Australia and work through my team in Phoenix.

. $10 in it and the others had in excess of $100 each. 

The solution there is to get a $100k 1st mortgage so the HELOC can be in 2nd position where it's comfy and happy and doesn't have stage fright, pay the first down to like $10k immediately after closing (remember you only pay interest on the outstanding balance!)

As you can see, the principal is only decreasing by about $40/m at this stage (but ever so slowly, increases as a proportion during the life of the loan, so that in another 231 months, the amounts are reversed, leaving only about $40/m for interest and the rest towards the principal, finally*).

There are ways to make money in every stage of real estate cycles. 

was not sure where to post this info, the area is a bit far from my target area to work and as stated i prefer not to flip at this stage in my path, but wanted to share the info for those who dont mind taking a drive in the country to hunt these homes if they are a deal. 

I am still in the learn/put some money away for a down payment stage.

I'm currently just working on it in stages as I close on my wholesale deals.

I had a good run, did about 10 transactions for around $4M in production, and I also ran a "listing coordination" gig for some of the big agents in the office where I'd essentially manage the preparation of properties (improvements/repairs, staging, marketing) for a percentage of their commission- I worked on about $20M worth of sales in this role. 

After real estate fees, house staging, closing on the sale and resale etc.