Still too early to call but I'm leaning toward this being a false claim. 

We are leaning towards an MFR to start.

I am leaning towards multifamily homes in Los Angeles county or Inland Empire area.

There really is no reason to do so, which is why I am leaning more towards @Lane Kawaoka's advice.

I get it, "well if you have it you use it" or "well no body is going to hand you money" but, there's thousands of books out there on how or why you should use others money to gain freedom and profit, which quite a few of them are books produced by bigger pockets. 

You can get an investment property without a job but its an entirely new animal and usually requires a very high credit and a good chunk of capital.Typically the bank wants 6-12 months of employment history so get that job and live as lean as possible to build up your savings and research ways to boost your credit to mid 700's if possible. 

i would lean towards selling as the market may plateau or drop again after the highway is in.  

At my age, my physical body is becoming more limited.

Less peace of mind due to increased debt, but trade off is better use of OPM.I will say we are leaning to taking out the line of credit for the pros mentioned above, but excited to hear your perspectives. 

I still to this day lean on a few much more experienced (and successful) investors than me when I have questions.