Nice to see Zillow agreeing with every sales person from Buffalo LOL.Buffalo is a good market to invest long term if you get a good property, on a good street, in good condition.  

I cold call and go direct to the seller and I have a 3 person team that pretty much just calls all day long for me.

I am not sure what type of real estate investing you're considering, but it sounds like, with your family and busy job, you won't have a lot of time to be hands-on or personally involved. 

I personally find that half the battle is just getting myself to write down & track progress

The properties in OK, which are roughly 30-40% smaller than my personal residence are only about $400-$600 cheaper than my FL insurance.

Focus on the numbers and the goals, not personal feelings.

To Sum it up, its a good idea if you can exceed the cost of capital (higher rate than your cost of debt) with what you earn on your heloc/debt you pull out and invest.The question is how much gains above is enough to substantiate the risk of your variable interest rate, well thats up to your personal investing criteria.

I bet you were floored when the person ordered every package you had to offer!!

Personally, I started my investment journey with multifamily properties before moving into single-family homes.

These homes are in my personal name right now.