In my opinion the opportunity is in the transitioning areas of Tucson in the Sfh and small multi-family space.

If you feel you must worry, worry instead that your all-cash offers are as low as possible (because you'd be paying cash), and, that your juggling with your relatives' HELOCs will proceed smoothly, in a timely fashion.

Lay it flat and put a bunch of dowels between them then when it's lined up, start pulling out the dowels to make contact, and roll it down with a heavy roller (or a can of something) to keep it smooth and keep pulling out the dowels as you go. 

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

By the way, the more favorable lender was able to close almost a week earlier than anticipated.Everything went pretty smoothly from there.

Have been involved in multiple 1031s either as a CPA or an investor with him and it always goes smoothly.

By investing conservatively, in good middle class neighborhoods we never suffered much in losses and by not having loans our flexibility and ease of purchase (cash) and sales (seller financed) always went smoothly.

This way your equity even is giving you a return.Once your portfolio reaches critical mass, or you hit your target numbers or cash flow you can transition over to paying down debt to prepare for the final distribution phase.However, people need to retire at some point this is called your distribution phase, so when that time comes be sure the properties are paid off by that time to maximize cash flow in retirement.A great book on this topic and more is Gary Keller's  The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. 

I was happy with my results, but I wanted to transition into more passive type investing. 

It is the characteristics that a company has during a transition period from good to great.