Please recommend a lawyer who works with fixed fee and does not charge for every min s/he talks to you. 

Others have little/no experience and will give you bad advice that takes you down the wrong path.I recommend you focus on educating yourself while saving more money. 

@Philip Anderson I'd recommend checking out @Baird King's meetup in Santa Barbara and @Kevin Aranha's in Ventura. 

Any suggestions or recommendations out there for best rate HELOC (not 2nd mortgage).  

I personally don't like the idea of using OPM as is often recommended for people without their own capital.

I have never been shy of facing challenges and I truly believe knowledge is power (something my grandfather taught me at a young age)I really want to learn everything there is to learn about realestate and am driven and hungry.Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations.

If you’re doing a straight forward investment property purchase, I recommend you try to connect with an investor focused mortgage broker or lender.

I’m sure others here are also running into this issue, so any recommendations and referrals would be greatly appreciated!

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

I would highly recommend a mentor or even paying a coach to get started.