Plus, with kids and schools in mind, renting can give you time to find the right neighborhood without rushing into a big purchase.

Research neighborhoods near colleges, government offices, and hospitals, explore FHA loans, conventional loans, house hacking strategies, and connect with local investors.Good luck!

What type of tenant can you deal with, what type of neighborhood, SF or MF, etc. etc.    

It's like only using weight to measure fitness.

As often happens with a HELOC vs a traditional mortgage.For example, if you mortgage rate is 5%, most instances your HELOC (assuming you are using it to replace your mortgage in 1st position) rate will be in the neighborhood of 3%.Continuing to make your mortgage payment (based off 5% interest) towards the HELOC would allow you to pay it off dramatically faster - relative to a 30yr note (the impact is greatly decreased on shorter notes). 

If it's really that tight, first see if you're fit to invest.Going forward, I am a post labor day to spring break REI guy.

I do wholesale or can custom look for something that fits your wants.

The area has appreciated very well over the past couple of years and we bought cheaper than we probably should have been able to, again through timing and where the builder was at on things- some of their other projects that were like ours in the same neighborhood were purchased a month later for $25,000 more than what we paid.

While not every mentor is a guaranteed path to success, proper vetting through referrals, review of a mentor’s track record, and alignment between the mentee and the mentor can shine some light on whether or not this relationship is a good fit.

All seasoned investors know who to run the deal by before they write and that person would always fit my five point definition of a deal killer.