Without active income it will become challenging to grow.

Littell expects the slowdown to deepen, with annual appreciation likely to dip further into negative territory by year’s end, signaling the end of rapid price growth in commercial real estate.

Growing business with networking is a wonderful opportunity, but with no experience in the RE space in the Triangle, I'd recommend you spend all of your time learning the market with this much runway.

I prefer to tap into the equity using a HELOC I’m just unsure about the best way to grow and scale from there.

I would ask a few more questions, but again, I doubt my trust in them would grow based on what you typed.I agree 100% on the account reserves. 

(I understand that I am in a different phase of my investing journey where I can be safer and younger newer investors will be doing much higher LTV and trying to grow their empire.)

For Conway and Titusville/Melbourne, focus on:Occupancy rates: Check how full local rental units are—this will give you an idea of demand.Rent trends: Ensure rental rates are stable or increasing.Local economy: Are jobs, population, and amenities growing or declining?

If you think rents will continue growing and values will continue growing, then buying before rates are cut could be good.  

Make sure you check out Clarksville, TN as well - we've got a great balance of cash flow and appreciation and are in a fundamentally strong and growing market. 

It's at around 580k now and continuing to grow but for someone else's benefit.