My question is whether or not it is wiser to start paying off our existing mortgages sooner or stock piling this cash to buy future deals especially if we see a drop in real estate prices because of what is happening in Ukraine/Russia or in the housing market in general. 

I don't think that necessarily means "Pay off all the student loan debts" but it does mean: - Having a large spread between income and expenses by generating a strong income and living well, well below your means- Having a stockpile of personal cash - enough for a 3-6 month personal emergency reserve - On top of that, having cash for the down payment, closing costs, expected repairs, and a strong buffer (perhaps $10-$15K at minimum for a $400K property) for real estate purposes- Having strong credit, and no bad debtsThis might take many families 12-18 months, but I think that it is worth it to enter real estate investing from a position of financial strength, rather than put all the chips on the table in an all-in bet.

No inside access, but it was described as "a hoarding".I spoke with one neighbor who has been inside, she told me there wereintense odors, overwhelming stockpiles of clutter, animal feces, bugs, even rats. 

He tried a couple of times over the years and could never get approved for a traditional mortgage, so he just started stockpiling his cash. 

The guys I knew stockpiling money 5-7-years ago missed a marked that would have doubled their wealth...and this is a super specific location-based question...real estate prices rose in many MSA during the last recession (2009)...it's not that easy to predict how a market will react.

Yet the value of stockpiled goods, or inventories, declined by a whopping $147.5 billion in the first quarter because companies could not keep up with demand.

We currently rent a cheap apartment and are just stockpiling our earnings (investing in crypto, should have in DOGE lol jk) to save up for a purchase so that's not a bad idea to get into house hacking prior to investing in other properties. 

C) Wait until March 2021 (1 year after purchasing #2), continue collecting rent, stockpiling money for emergencies, and do another HELOC on the equity in #2?

With your $1M in annual income, depending on your expenses, you may find that paid off properties are easy to stockpile and as long as your spending is just a fraction of that $1M in income, there's no reason you won't have a very short putt to sleeping soundly with a paid off rental portfolio. 

Here is my "first response stockpile" we can deploy quickly before we can get a contractor on site.- several electric space heaters- mobile AC units- a couple carpet blower fans- a couple high capacity dehumidifiers- an electric submersible pump with hose in a bin ready to go- a puddle sucker pump- a shop vac to suck up water and a big squeegeeI have not yet had the need for a generator.