Leverage equity, explore house hacking, and continue learning through books, podcasts, and local networking to refine your strategy.

I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

From there, work with a reliable cash-out refinance partner to continually access your equity, allowing you to keep non-taxable cash on hand for future investments.

You might also look into learning about BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), a popular method for scaling a portfolio.Network Locally: Engaging with local investors and attending meetups in markets like Dallas or Fort Worth can provide insights and connections that are invaluable.You'll find that momentum grows quickly.

You have used home equity lines of credit to purchase investment rentals and want to know the best way to pay down the HELOCs.Between the two properties you bought, after expenses, you have $250 a month positive cashflow to use.What I like to do is pay down some principal every month with my positive cashflow.I use my extra active income from real estate commissions helping other investors to pay down the principal even more which just frees up that credit for me to use again.I know I can refinance the HELOC debt before it changes to principal and interest as it is just interest only payments as yours are.One difference is the cashflow, I have greater positive cashflow and could make the principal and interest payment in the future with the extra cashflow I already enjoy.I always get HELOCs on my income properties as well after purchasing them to pull out as much of my downpayment as possible.

DSCR lenders are going to want to verify you are not living in the property when you start the refinance.

That's probably your best bet.

:)  Is it still cash flowing after the refinance?  

If you go the rehab route, you can refinance when finished with the work into a DSCR loan to get all/most of you initial investment back if you found a good deal.

Refinances are still active, slim pickings but some players are out there who are direct lenders, flip loans are also available (75-100K) min property other than conventional and gov backed loans.