(New roof, paint, etc) and proceeds even if we paid capital gains taxes could pay down other properties debt including adjustable HELOCS which would double our annual income but of course we would lose a door. 1 property is currently vacant and I anticipate at least $10k to refresh including new gutters.

for example, they will screen tenants according to strict criteria, and shield you from screening and placement issues.you should of course do whatever you want. 

Here are some good places to start: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet- find and connect with other BP members that are in your area.http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts - Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you.And, of course thehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/forums - ask any question about real estate!

And even after going through their video training (which was not worth the $1000 I spent btw, I could have found all the same information for free on here or a number of different places) it seemed really fishy/scammy to me.

Of course, all markets are different, so that certainly doesn't apply everywhere.  

@Tina Kapur—First and foremost, you can NOT deny a tenant because of a voucher—that's a big no-no here in Chicago...now, of course, you can deny the tenant for other reasons like credit score, income, etc.We usually do 2.5X income w/ a 600+ credit score in the nw side of the city.Section 8 has its pros and cons like anything else...the check shows up EVERY FIRST of the month like clockwork, but additional paperwork and CHA inspections are required.

If you can capitalize on those early returns and recycle into another property with similar early trajectory, you will end with much more money over the same period of time.Of course, being able to harvest those gains and recycle in a tax deferred manner helps even more, so you may want to seek out syndicators that are able to offer 1031 exchanges on exit, which is definitely possible.

Of course, I am not a financial planner, this is just my personal opinion.

Of course, this is all changing due to NAR's settlement, effective August 13, that no longer allows listing agents to offer buyer agents compensation via the seller.

You just have to learn to train your tenants to pay on time whatever method you choose.