The data plans are reasonable ($50/month) and the service seems like it would be more reliable through storms and outages. 

Make sure your financial advisor understands real estate taxation, financial planning and tax planning. 

If you were limited in cash reserves atleast you'll have the HELOC as a 2nd or 3rd back up source of funds to weather storms.

Dave Van Horn is a collegue of mine and I am glad that he was able to point you in a direction that helped you feel better about your retirement planning. 

Their plan is to raise rents (on the poor remaining souls, improve infrastructure and exert some sweat equity. 

The family purchased a lakefront property in a nice area three years ago but then ran into a series of issues, and have abandoned the place because of them.They are hoping the bank allows a short sale (asking for roughly $20,000 under what is owed)Here's what's made them so unhappy:Anytime they used the laundry it was dumping into a dry well, which would back up into the house forcing them to take their laundry to a laundromat instead!!

Sounds like a good plan @Stephanie Medina!

My wife and I just bought our first condo over the summer and plan to turn it into a rental later on down the road.

Or, what assets are going to back up the guarantees?

A hybrid approach could also work—perhaps using a HELOC for reserves while saving the stock portfolio and 401k loan as backup options for future opportunities.