Yes you have to pay capital gains on selling your properties, but you will recover that quickly with the high returns. 

You’re in the right place to meet like-minded investors and gain local insights.

Sometimes you're better off just selling, taking your tax-free gains and going from there. 

For the 20% down, it’d lower your mortgage and eliminate PMI, but buying now could help you start building equity and gaining appreciation.

|The gain that you have is ikely passive.

When I sold my properties, the price did not increase much (though there was still a slight profit, couple with the rental I had over the years and currency gain (bought when USD was low and sold when USD was high).

If your primary has a net $1M appreciation you’ll only pay $100k cap gains tax - that’s a lower alternative than what you propose.

I'm in this strange position of being out of state and unfortunatley not having the time to visit or gain personal expertise.

If so invest locally, gain experience and knowledge, scale up and go from there. 

Although a cash offer may help you win the property or gain concessions in the short-term, there are long-term benefits to using debt.