A lot of research and studies have come out around high paying jobs make large impacts. 

Is it better to sell, pay off mortgage and capital gains and take the cash to invest in another property or is it better to refi/ETO and take the cash to invest in another property?

Granted this was on plots of land I didn't pay for, and that are already connected to the city's water and sewer, so there's a lot of savings there, but I'm hoping if it turns out to be this good of a deal I can still scoop up land and keep going

It is much more difficult to sell an entire portfolio that has become uninsurable (which would require a cash only sale) or that insurance rates are so high that no one wants to buy. 

Bank financing is very tough for anyone starting out so HML is generally ( unless you use your own cash or cash in your network) the only funding there is.. the goal has to be though moving towards bank financing so you get the best deal possible.. right now I am at 1/2 point and 7% and my bank pays for my appraisals.

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

Hope you didn't pay anything to an S8 "guru"!

Most purposes that people on the BP forums are transferring properties to an LLC, would be exempt of the Due On Sale Clause.

You could force the seller to bring it up to code before the sale is complete as one of the contingencies of buying it, let them deal with it.

What are the costs for the value adds, the expected hold time, and the expected sale price?