Would a cash-out refinance to free up equity and keep growing be a smart move, or should I focus on paying down my existing debts?

Medical technical people do not like to move since their clients are tied geographically.  6.  

Quote from @Devin James: In one of our development projects, the City staff asked us to remove 40 units from our concept plan.This wasn’t requested by the City Commission at a formal hearing, it was the opinion of the staff.Our original concept already proposed fewer units than the current zoning would have allowed.Here’s what erasing 40 units means:- 40 fewer homes for buyers- Over $1M in lost profit for our team- Fewer tax dollars and impact fees that could’ve benefited the City’s infrastructure & servicesWe gotta get betterEveryone wants more affordable housing, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to achieve it we never listen to the recommending bodies. we move for city approvals and work closely. the other thing we do is keep going back to the same groups over and over and over and over every month on the same agenda and make very small reductions like 2% or 4% and that reduces and beats them down eventually they accept what you want. it's just before beating a dead horse. we keep tabling until they give us something we all agree on then we go to vote. in our city in columbus we have to get recommendations but that's our strategy. we used to come out as aggressive as possible. we typically study developments in the area and keep it very similar in terms of density. we have a track record of very controversial projects and litigation and not taking no as an answer. after a year of that haha I can tell you it's not worth it. now we are more relationship based and buying the right kinds of plots of land. if the numbers don't work on the front end don't do the development. 

After a Valentines purchase as well as a couple others, I was able to convince him this was a good move.

At least those are my observations.If you’re comfortable knowing the OOS risks, and still want to move forward, then great job, now you know what you’re getting into, which is part of due diligence.

We know they’re hard working and would like to continue working with them rather than move toward foreclosure, but we know they’re in over their heads if we continue under the current terms of the mortgage and don’t want to set them up for failure. 

Are you planning to house hack (live in property for a year, then move and rent it out)?

if you want to move to a LCOL market and house hack there, that's great. 

While it may seem unfair to offer financial incentives to problematic tenants, sometimes it’s the quickest and least costly way to regain control of your property and move forward.Lastly, connect with local landlord associations or advocacy groups.

🙏☺️ I completely understand where you’re coming from & you’re right that owning real estate is a key step toward truly being an investor.I’m still new to the game, but I have a solid plan in place to move toward ownership & establish myself as a real estate investor.