Commercial is a totally different ball game than residential, so connecting with a commercial broker will definitely make your life easier.

Negotiating felt like a game of chess—except I was playing against a grandmaster, and my queen was missing.

It’s been a game changer.

There are rules and situations unique to each state and that is why you want to go with a local lender vice someone just reaching out to you telling you they can do it. 2) Better recourse if the lender screws something up: a local lender has more skin in the game so to speak as if they screw something up their name will be mud to local real estate agents in the deal.

I see no value in it for evaluation.Realestate.com has always been a good site for accessing properties, but they do a poor job of evaluation. 

Remember, successful asset management is the difference-maker in real estate investing.Two properties could look identical, but how they are managed is the real game-changer

The fact of the matter is that real estate is a long game and expenses will come up. 

It looks like according to the county site (sbcounty.gov) they require all renter payment go to the active owner. 

If your game plan is to pay it off with prepaying all your money you absolutely need a HELOC however don't need to use.

Things like your car (if used for business) and home office expenses could be game-changers, especially in your first year.