And dividends, although not guaranteed, have historically have been pretty good, even during recessions, wars, and pandemics.

It took until the pandemic for my properties to appreciate much.

During the pandemic, my voucher tenants kept our properties whole and we didn't have the massive non-payment issues that many experienced.  

Purchased a home during the pandemic, value has gone up roughly 2.5(estimating), believe i have enough value in a HELOC to get a down payment on a second home.. is it a wise decision to add that to my plate then rent the first house for mortgage payment+?

The answer is clearly yes, not to be fair the 2010’s were probably a golden age for re investing, this is an especially tough period, so that gap feels huge, some of this is just a result of the pandemic and subsequent inflation, some of this is by design, the Fed wants to restrict investing and for you to put money into tresuries and cd’s not real estate & stocks.

Refinanced during the pandemic, and was able to drop the rate to <4%.

Prior to the pandemic, Florida’s price appreciation was fairly modest (as measured by the median listing price, which is far from perfect).

Having good processes in place is particularly important for tenant screening, move-ins and move-outs and the handling of security deposits, but I don't know how you can have processes to guard against criminals and unfair government policies like those in place in some areas during the pandemic.

I think STRs will continue to struggle as we move away from the pandemic. 

My husband and I househacked our apartment in Boston when we moved to NH during the pandemic and BRRR’d our second property (which balance a bit and hold/ STR).