Would help if you stated what questions you had so people could reply right away.I have knowledge on HELOANs but not direct experience.

I have some experience here, and my answer will be it depends. 

Your decades of experience have made you jaded. 

Can someone share your experience or point me to the right place?

I manage around 400 rentals with 14 years of experience and have never been sued once.

Quote from @John Underwood: Gas heat would require constant tank refilling and it would be very bad to run out in the winter.In my experience, if you have  325 or 500 g tank, you can top off in the fall and be good until spring.....Unless I guess you have a big house and are keeping it at 80d.... 

I typically don't comment on other's businesses unless I know from personal experience.

Your experience reminds me to manage the portfolio well (i.e. sell losers) and to be patient. 

You don't need to know everything to get started; you need a foundation to build on, and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months.

At the very least you will want to have some general foundations set because with time you will modify processes and the learnings via experience you gain.