Will you use the HELOC as a short-term bridge, or plan to hold it longer?

We also had the option of another type of policy that was even less expensive that would have required us to spend at least 1 night in the house and rent it at least 30 nights each year.

Start with the county, zoning, planning commissions etc.

At that point, you’re building a business plan—something you can take to the bank.

Roads, water/sewer, city services, heck even just the planning for such is not a simplistic thing for all. 

Dig deep into tax strategy, tax efficiency, etc  Learn about estate planning. 

I feel a loss of direction and that makes it really hard for me to focus and build.Do we keep at building a portfolio of small multi family (very abundant in my market, very rare to find anything above a triplex for sale), with plans of selling the portfolio and 1031'ing into larger properties? 

You can EASILY pass several million to your heirs tax free and avoid at least a $1M in taxes if you spend anywhere near 20 years investing in real estate. 

Hey Nithin, one of my client's closes today on a next gen home that they plan on renting out the separate unit.

But we already have a plan to tackle it.