Even when I travel, the tenants don't mind a bit of a delay.

Quote from @Michael Klick: Quote from @Jonathan Greene: HELOCs are fine, but keep in mind that you really only want to use 50 percent of less (each) of your available equity just so you aren't creating a problem that you can't solve later if the value of your personal residences fluctuates.If you both have W2 jobs though, have you looked into getting qualified together and just getting a loan, 10 percent down each?

Just keep in mind again these people are working and trying to make money so try not to be a time-suck for anyone.

Montgomery Metropolitan Housing has a reputation of being difficult to work with and are slow to pay at times r so I have heard.One thing to keep in mind is that even with section 8, you still get to set your criteria that tenants need to qualify for your unit. 

@Caleb Brown Thank you so much, I'm really trying network and be relationships with like minded individuals get the help I seek.

Also I find it kind of humerus were 15 years ago when i joined BP the FI number was 5k to many up to 10k  now its 15k and up.. ( which is realistic in my mind I never thought 5k was realistic. 

In my opinion, the easiest path to investing in real estate is house hacking a 2-4 unit multi-family property.You have the right idea of getting around other like-minded investors. 

A great place to start is https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet which you can use to find like-minded people in your area and every other market across the nation that you may consider.You'll find some helpful tips at https://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere.For tips on how to get the most out of BiggerPockets, check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/biggerpockets-com-tutorial/The BiggerPockets Keyword Alert System is an awesome tool: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/12/1...See you on future threads!

There's nothing wrong with paying for someone to do their job but take the opportunity to learn from them. 9/10 times they don't mind teaching you.  

Keep in mind you can also get a licesne for ZipForms from CAR without becoming a Realtor.