Personally If you like your current residence and hope to stay there long term I would forgo major improvements on my primary and use all investment savings to make you more money and cash flow. 

Would it be wise to use a HELOC on our current residence to use for a down payment on a new propertyHi David, as someone who works with a lot of OOS investors, I would let you know that most of the clients I work with have never physically visited when buying their first investment property - the most important thing is working with a great investor agent and doing proper due diligence.

I'm very new to investing and weighing which options would benefit me the most.Option 1:  Use the cash as down payment on another primary residence and rent out the current.

After they moved in, we started to get some mild complains from our neighbors (for the rented unit which was our primary residence until we moved out in another house a few miles away). 1.

I strongly advise you to get your primary residence taken care of FIRST.

@Jason Dubon I use a percentage of the rental income to prepare for expenses.

The replacements often lack the experience.If you're looking for tax preparation only, without tax advice, then the worst times to look for a CPA are March-April and August-October.

But the manager's unit is really a 3000 sqft / 4 br / 2.5 ba SFR, and we live there as our primary residence. 

A team of lenders, title companies, contractors and RE attorneys, and significant knowledge of the intricacies of real estate transactions, you will be MORE than prepared to dive feet first into your first deals and will do so with CONFIDENCE.

Be prepared to face fluctuations in the market, unexpected repairs, and tenant issues.