I would never do sub to for the purpose of holding long term rentals  ( at least personally) .

If you are able to sell I'd say sell, if it's not looking like that's going to happen then try to get it on a long term loan with renters so you can save on your monthly payment, then get the equity back out and move onto something else!

Refinance the whole house as long as the rent exceeds the mortgage?

We look at how many counts and how long ago.

Long story short, as others have advised, attend local REI meet-ups to connect with your team, vet them, and begin your process.

Consider what your long-term goals are, is this your only rental or do you want to grow your portfolio?

I would say Dallas is a solid place to start right now.4) Once I've lived in the property for the obligatory year, is that typically long enough to refinance and use HELOC towards my next property? 

Most long-term lenders will use an AMC to select the appraiser.

Real estate investing has been a passion of mine for time with my mother also having invested early on where I likely have gotten the love and desire to follow similar foot steps.I have taken last 6 months to educate myself and currently own a single family home as primary residence and would like to expand to multi family properties (2-4 units) for additional stream of income, not to mention potential tax benefits for long-term investing.Based on current living situation, I have a fair amount of equity established in my primary residency along with having enough cash to either pay off house completely or use towards investing in a multi family property.Given that I'm the sole source of income for our household with my wife being the home maker for our two kids under 2, trying to weigh out risks with getting started now or perhaps waiting. 

I know of some folks in KC and Memphis doing new builds like this, but they are doing it within a much larger and long-term project that includes upwards of 300-500 units built over the course of 5-10 years.Assuming you're looking in Columbia, do you have a "B+/C" neighborhood in mind?