So, I do agree with hedging your bets and serving a notice to pay or quit.The issue with them not paying rent and you using the security deposit is that they have zero incentive to clean the unit and if they damage it, you have no additional funds.If it were me, I'd serve them an eviction notice and then mark them as owing on a credit reporting site(I use Front Lobby).

Nice work lining up the HELOC, that’s the hardest part for a lot of people.Even though you are no longer in WI, you can absolutely keep investing there; you just have to be intentional about (1) how cash moves from the HELOC into the WI LLC/deals, (2) how income is sourced/taxed in WI vs where you live now, and (3) keeping clean books as you scale.A real estate focused CPA can guide you through the best structure so you are not overcomplicating the entity/tax side while you grow.

- Have seen MANY newbies fix rentals up as if they were going to llive in them instead of the SMARTER strategy of "Maintaining to the Neighborhood":(Thanks for the comments and yeah, most of this strategy has already been passed through the CPAs and Attorneys to meet some long-term goals with the portfolio.To answer this specific question it's because life isn't so clean with plans and there's too many variables to unpack here.

If you want a clean, reliable, budget-friendly upgrade, replacing the tops is usually the smarter long-term move.

On top of that, VA loans are great for buyers but they aren't always attractive to sellers due to stricter property condition and appraisal requirements than other types of loans and obviously they are not nearly as attractive to the seller as a clean, cash offer would be. 

Entry-level and mid-tier flips still move well.Homes under the luxury threshold sell fast when they’re clean, modern, and priced right.

have you had the ductwork cleaned?

There's a whole ecosystem of other apps I can share about covering all things from smartlocks, pricing, cleaning & maintenance coordination, tenant communications, etc.

Do a quick weekly pipeline review, document lessons per deal, and keep your eye on parks later—stack 5–10 clean singles to earn the chops and capital to jump.

Even with it grossing ~$100k/year (all in with cleaning fees) and a reasonable PITI ($350k loan), the distributions are average at best.