A HELOC felt like the right approach, but I'm learning it's pretty impossible to find a lender for my situation.

And yes this will be a huge learning experience.

best of luck. i would network in that area and go to as many meetups you can and learn the area well

We’re particularly interested in purchasing a duplex, triplex, or fourplex, or a property with an ADU to start our investment journey.We look forward to learning from and contributing to this community!

Lessons learned?

It's a good place to start to learn about other areas within the state.

I'm looking for you advice with my overall strategy and garner any experience you might have to save me from learning the hard way. 

. :)We definitely want to invest in true vacation rentals as well but this will be a good learning process with not as much risk to start.  

Like I said earlier, I am new to the game but learning as much and as fast as possible.

Only an investment team can provide the crucial local knowledge you need.Moreover, you'll need various resources to find, validate, inspect, renovate, and manage a property.