2 - the eviction part, looked further and found I was wrong, it is the same eviction process.3 - to get an existing 2 unit property with the same budget: that does sound like a better option,  any state/ area you would recommend?  

Nothing wrong with slow and steady. 

One of us is wrong! 

One wrong move, one wrong contractor, one wrong vendor…will erase any "benefit" one city has over another.

Make sure:Rental cash flow comfortably covers the new mortgage + HELOC payments.You have an emergency fund for vacancies, repairs, or rising HELOC rates.Your lender treats the HELOC properly when qualifying for the investment loan.it’s doable, but only if you’re financially safe if things go wrong. 

Then all of a sudden they dissappear from posting or they make 1 post about how they got the wrong people. 

Beyond that, if something goes wrong during construction, there is often no meaningful warranty or recourse against anyone but yourself.

A lot of people get it wrong.

One thing that's saved me headaches: ask them about their last 3 flips - timeline, budget overruns, what went wrong.

Even with DSCR loans, refi risk or balloon timing can change the picture later.At the end of the day, I’m asking: if two things go wrong at the same time — lower rent and higher expenses — does the property still stand on its own without feeding it from outside income?