Travel nurses have additional expenses as well, and some assignments may only be paying $1,800/wk, and when you calculate dual living expenses, paying for your own healthcare, no benefits, taxes, etc... it may not be as lucrative as some might think.

You do not need batteries unless you're out in the middle of nowhere.Check out the net metering for your utility in doing your calculations.

My current primary ( scenario 1) Keep the primary for the life of the loan ( current rate is 4.5 so i dont see my self refinancing anytime soon)current home value 1,150,000Loan amount 935,000appreciation estimate 5% per year after a 28 year hold and the house is paid off I would have a house worth 4,312,000$my current mortgage is 6125$ ( piti) included My second option( scenario 2) Sell the house, walk away with $150 ,000 ish in hand and put that into a low cost index fund Rent a house elsewhere for about 3000$ ish and take the extra 3000$ im saving everymonths from not having to pay my mortgage and puting that money in the index fund as well I ran the numbers on both of these scenarios and doing what I mentioned above would break even at about 28 years meaning my stock account would be worth 4.3 million just like my house would , but the only is that holding a house for 28 year would mean 28 years of property taxes, loan interest ,home insurance and repairs etc whick I calculated to be about 1,200,000$ at minimum which raised my eyebrows to say the least Also i understand that each of these options ( stock market vs real estate ) will have there tax consequences ( long term capital gains) so any thoughts on that would be appreciated as well.  

To cover entire expense, the only thing that can be reduced is PI and should be $2200(PI) and if I do reverse calculate, the house price should be $410k.

Calculated risks based on numbers alone, thank you!

The SP500 has returned "long term" 8.4% nominal and 6.9% real, per Dr Jeremy Seigels 1801-2023 data set and would be fully taxable at sale. 

For this type of asset you're looking at the NOI, and calculating that is incredibly important. 

I know there are other financing options, but the question we cannot seem to avoid is whether or not to hold (and rent) or sell the town home.It's tempting to leverage the current equity, move out and rent it - but from what I've read / calculated, it might not be the best return compared to other options.Ideas on how we can get into another home (larger but cheaper) while also (re)starting our REI journey?

You need to calculate your return on equity to see if it’s time to leverage that equity more, you also want to calculate your blended interest rate of the original loan and the the HELOC to see if that’s the best rate or if a cash out refi would be better.If I were you I would look at doing the same move again and buy another primary residence and turn your current house into your second rental.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.