I was actually just in Decatur yesterday (at the toy park).

If you can be disciplined about your spending and not dip into your investment funds for toys, and learn the right investing principles, you can do much better in real estate than a 401k.  

The loss of one lease can crush your cash flow if you have a business serving as an anchor (on a big scale think Toys-R-Us).

they sit in some sort of land of misfit toys limbo. 

Life style, leveraged assets and borrowing for depreciating assets, excess vehicles, toys and other financed properties says more about someone than how they speak, act or dress.Liabilities are viewed as obligations and contingent liabilities or debts they might incur if plans change.

I believe that a one page promissory note is really not in good practice, using ten and twelve point type, sufficient recording spaces, it takes at least two legal size pages, usually three with any notary and more involved notes can be 10 or 12 pages, even more.I have toyed with the idea of posting some contracts, but here is a problem, posting one means, IMO, that it will likely be copied and used and my Option Contract that is compliant here in Missouri may not include an issue required in SD, or NJ and especially in TX.

We have toyed with the thought of a vacation rental that we can also use from timw to time.

For example, in lieu of formal architectural plans, draw a picture (not joking), describe the thing (sq ft, amenities, etc) you are thinking of building, and throw some tent stakes or toys in the yard for the four corners where the thing if built would go.Appraisers, freed from the rules/requirements/etc that we force them to follow, often actually like doing private appraisals where common sense and quality can be king, instead of box-checking.

Hello,I am just toying with this idea of investing into syndications using HELOC from my current rental as there is substantial equity which can be tapped into is that too risky?

paying down a loan or mortgage is not an expense(business or personal). you are simply decreasing your liability from X to Y.