I just keep hearing over and over again to just take action and course correct from there. 

If you truly want to "retire" young, keep investing and living your life you'll need a ton more.

A reserve is unnecessary, but I still keep around $15,000 - $20,000 in my account.The point is, that you should sit down and assess your finances to determine what the worst-case scenario may look like, how much you would need to cover it without impacting your life, and whether you will need to build a reserve.

Keep in mind if there are economic shifts that you are seeing, so is everyone else, so you may have missed the boat.   

If the seller isn't responsive, then do like the idea of telling the tenant you tried, and see if they can get some free legal assistance from a tenant resource center.It is a good reminder as closing approaches to ask the seller to keep tenants updated on the pending sale and when ownership is scheduled to change.

Curious.. do you think you’ll try a different approach next time, or stick to this model to keep the momentum going?

Keep in mind a HELOC rate will be much higher because of the CLTV and risk.

There are a few in my area that I keep an eye on to see how successful they might be and I’m always looking for properties with potential to be something grand.

I just don't want to keep waiting but waiting for nicer property that is B to A neighborhood may be better.

If you have property in CT, I would definitely give here a call and keep her on your PM list.