.), what each of those options offer as far as advantages and disadvantages, etc.2)  How to find good resources to help you find investments (seems like real estate brokers is the way to go, but I have absolutely no clue what to look for to find a good one as far as their background, let alone where to even look).3)  What websites, companies, and other resources are good to utilize.4)  How attorneys are involved, how to get them involved combined with brokers, etc. 

This is an advantage to other types of lending.

On that note, you might not want to mention to your lender that you intend to move out and convert it to a rental...that would be a major red flag in terms of getting a HELOC.Another big advantage of the HELOC is you only pay if you use the funds, opposed to a cash out refi where you'll be making payments whether you've deployed the capital or not.

One RE investment I regret is not taking advantage of my first rental, when the landlord offered to sell.  

The tax advantage of selling with 2 of 5 years occupancy is something to take into account in any decision.  

I have a few rentals I was trying to refinance, but was running into various roadblocks and wasn't getting what I needed therefore I decided to sell them and take my nice profit which falls in line with my goal.Every move you make should be the most advantageous to set you up for the next step in your plan.

After that I will likely reduce the 401k to 4% and contribute a high percentage to the a Roth IRA to take advantage how powerful the compounding interest is at my age, like you suggested.Thanks for the tip on the store credit card. 

You do not want to be targeted as one of the bad guys who took advantage of the system during everyone's time of need. 

My plan is to buy rental properties and do a cost seg to take advantage of the 100% bonus depreciation.

Live in flips give you a great advantage because holding costs count as primary living expense and you can work at your own pace, however live in flips make it easy to slack off and not get things done in a succinct timeline.