You'll get a far better response using your name, and in the case of no name or return, the curiosity factor will often overcome the gatekeeper mentality :-)Hope that helps.  

Defintely talk to a lender because there are a ton of factors that will play into the amount of next mortgage you can get- the biggest ones I dealt with were DTI ratio and the monthly payment I would have to make on that HELOC.

If a property has that kind of impact I would use that as a no-go factor right off the bat. 

Credit score, income:rent ratio, job longevity, Landlord references, age, and a long list of other factors I'm forgetting. 

At this point I’m dealing with the issues as they come and will take all necessary actions that I can to finish the project the right way but the lesson for me is I guess in the future look for the permits pulled for a house over the years and try to factor in potential work that was done without permits and add that as a risk factor.

Yes, there are instances where the eviction/forfeiture process is less expensive and faster, and theoretically there can be more upside, but on the whole, those factors do not make up for the negatives.

Are they doing everything they can to expose properties to the widest possible market?

Where you're located will absolutely factor into whether you use multi-year leases, but we manage over 7,000 properties through the southeast and have collected over 97% of billed rents through covid.  

So many people have pets that it's probably one of if not the biggest limiting factor to getting tenants. 

@Justin Megna this may sound broad, but study every factor/variable that may have an effect on your investment strategy and specific target market.