Advice on Next Steps

[Mario Borg]

Hi BP community,

I'm currently 32 years old trying to figure out where to go from here. I have two current properties: One being my personal residence in Livermore California and and another being my rental in Brentwood California, both single family homes. I Purchased the Brentwood property about 8 years ago and have about 700K in equity. Expenses all in every month $1900.. current rent $4,000. I also have an Available HELOC of 300K on my personal property in Livermore. I've been in the construction industry my whole life ( my twin brother is a union plumber as well) and have also owned (2) business' that I've sold; Autobody Shop and A Trade Show Company. Concurrently I went through the Union Electrical apprenticeship and worked in the field for 10 years while managing apartment buildings on the weekends/evenings. My early 20's to my 30's didn't involve much sleep. I moved into an office position a little over a year ago ,for the electrical company i was working for, and now managing millions in work. To make a long story short, i want my hard work to feed my family and not someone else pocket. Going full time real estate is something that I've always wanted to do, and i think I'm at a point where I'm ready to take the leap. I'm Currently in the Process of getting my General Contractors License in California to allow myself another tool in my toolbox to build my real Estate empire (Dream).

I'm looking to connect with anyone that can throw some words of wisdom my way. Should i sell, refinance, 1031, Wait?  The high interest rates are making things a little harder in the Bay area and am very open to conversation of out of state investing if the Returns are better. I'm no stranger to hard work, just need to get the right team together.