any lender wants to know how you plan to service the debt.

If you are open to non-traditional methods of financing, you could use a debt service loan to bypass that requirement.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Meanwhile, your expenses, like debt service, taxes, insurance, and maintenance, continue.These are the requirements necessary to attain and maintain financial independence.

A HELOC is a short term debt instrument.

Hi KyleThe way most real estate for sale is priced these days there’s little to no cash flow after debt service with 25% down - borrowing a down payment would put the investor in a negative monthly position. 

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

If I go the multi-unit route I would put myself in debt for a bit, which is fine for long term investment.

You'll likely also reduce your cost of living by moving to a stabilized apartment.Depending on the cashflow and debt paydown, you can use this strategy until you've built enough equity to reinvest.On the other hand, getting into a multi-family after refinancing will also help you build substantial equity to rinse and repeat in the coming years.

If you've not read Debt Cleanse, you should.