Hi Christine for heloc I approached m local community bank that as initial 1 year tier rate 19th 10 year draw, I only was able to find 1 bank that offered on my Vacation home- Sandy Spring Bank. 

 That was initially the plan, a passive investment for retirement.

Trust me, it's way easier getting financing, and it's nice having the security of some income coming in initially (not to mention health insurance if you're not covered under a spouses). 

I also would like to get some general feedback on your initial thoughts of house hacking a condo/townhouse property as a first investment.

The GPs manage all aspects of the deal from the initial due diligence before the purchase, through the sale of the asset (typically 5-7 years down the road). 

@Jonathan Greene  The price range that was initially mentioned, but not agreed to, I estimated to be around 65%-70% of the ARV based on nearby homes that have recently sold with similar metrics.

this purchase was definitely more of a long term project when initially purchased but i believe still has some great ROI potential. 

Ideally, you're creating enough value to refi in a year or two and pull out your initial investment.

As far a cheap jobs coming in higher than initially quoted I agree with @Nathan G. could be justified if after the contractor arrives on scene there are complications during the repair... it may quite honestly be an attempt by your PM trying to save you $ and getting your property taken cared of.

You get the point.Since you are doing an IRR, you can compare both properties that you can cash flow but will have ZERO appreciation (places like Reading, PA etc) and places that you may have little cash flow initially but will have some or a lot of appreciation.When you do your IRR, all you do is pick the investment with the better IRR.