This has to do mainly with the timing of property tax payments for your own home (not for your investment properties) and your charitable donations.

Build a reliable team on the ground, plan occasional visits, and trust your general contractor to handle the day-to-day.

I would keep the property and eventually refi to help get your payment down lower.

We were discussing options for payment as we don’t have a lot of capital at the moment, however they have a property that has a bit of equity we could tap into, but they already have a favorable interest rate.

Question is, if I have the means to put a high enough down payment on a house to be cash flow positive (assuming my expense estimates are accurate, etc.) is that something that I should do?  

Interest payments hit my account as expected.

A HELOC could help temporarily if you plan to payoff the balance quickly and are planning to save on monthly payments in the short term.  

Or like your plan use it all as a down payment on a much larger property.  4.

How much are you short for the down payment?

Think about it, if you are buying something at a 5% cap rate, but interest rates are 6%, the debt payment exceeds the income.