I have never been asked what I was going to do with the money I have extracted via the refinance. 

I suspect my half bathroom added at least 5 times the value it would add in Akron    It may have cost me 50% more (virtually all in labor costs), but my return on that value add is in a different league than it would be in Akron (nothing against Akron - you can substitute any low cost market for Akron).In my experience there are 2 things required to extract your investment upon the refi 1) the rehab has to be extensive.  

I'd like to extract some of the equity out of it via a heloan toexpand my real estate portfolio.

I have done successful (full extract of investment and cash flowing after refinanced) BRRRRs in areas that I would rate class C-.  

It'll be a 2nd lien to extract the equity.

It does not take much math skills to realize that without an extraction of value that the cash flow would be outstanding.  

I would refi now since you have to the opportunity to both lower your rate significantly as well as extract cash from the equity.

In hindsight, I should have played along, because I am dying to know how they would have extracted those gift cards from me at the police station parking lot...

I would talk to a lawyer first because the terms of the eviction could vary wildly depending on circumstances.For example, if the current owners have cashed any of the current tenants rent checks during the eviction period that can effectively turn the clock back to zero on the timeline.If the tenant is disabled or a senior, that can make it extra challenging, especially if the building is not free market (ie rent stabilized).Remember: It’s not just lost rent, you may need to tap a lawyer to help with the eviction proceedings if the tenant takes you to court and those fees are often more than the lost rent.Once you have an idea of the complexity of this, I’d suggest just counter-offering to the seller based on subtracting a conservative estimate of the cost of this process and be prepared to handle it yourself rather than trying to extract a judgement of some kind from the seller down the road.  

However if I do a BRRRR I can achieve infinite return by extracting all of my investment.