I found out from googling what a HELOC was so I took one out to get more funds to up my purchase power and jumped into a 3 family.

I contacted the power company, and they directed me to the tax assessor's office to inquire about obtaining a separate address for the pool house.

What is the infrastructure story (do they have water/sewer/power to support growth)?

that would be an extremely powerful way to get started in a new market. 

The higher rates have somewhat slowed down the "get rich quick with no money down" crowd as financing is more difficult, but I still see a lot of new investors with serious cash or purchasing power.

Often times the only bill that is tied to a house is a utility bill (not power or cable which are associated with a house but tied to a person and not the property) and the new owner takes responsibility for it at closing when they take possession of the house.

When that person said that, we realized how much power we had to negotiate terms that helped us reach our goals.You can't just take what's being offered when you negotiate.

I am sick to my stomach because I know better but my hope over powered me.

However, the power of leverage will make you very wealthy in only 10 years or less when you factor in your monthly cash flow, principal pay down of your mortgage and 5% appreciation.

The power of compounding in real estate is real - yet most professionals don't understand how powerful it really can be even though they talk about generating wealth.The true power of a 1031 exchange is the ability for an investor to meet their investment objectives without losing equity to taxation.