Hammer= StilettoTool belt/bags= Occidental   Another important piece of gear especially for handyperson work is a tool carrier for all your hand tools, tubes of caulk, spackle, tackle, painting stuff, spare lightbulbs, smoke alarms, flamethrower, etc.

So there are 2 points to tackle here.  

If you have any advice or suggestions on the best way to tackle this I would be most grateful!

So either be prepared to lose more than half of the numbers you wanted skip traced or be prepared to tackle this obstacle with a different marketing strategy.Also also, (yes meant that twice), a good amount of the people that call you back are calling because they had a missed call- not because they've listened to your msg.Again, platforms etc....I won't get into all of these individually as this post is way longer than expected, but feel free to msg me directly with any questions or clarifications. 

But I am constantly looking for ways to reduce our risk and tackle our first investment property!

Are you a systems guy ready to tackle property management? 

Which niche I should tackle.

And lastly, if you go that route, ideally try to make $100-$150 cash flow per bedroom in your home after the mortgage (P+I+taxes) -- but if your rents could cover your mortgage, and give you just a small margin of profit. then I would choose the heloc, you go rent somewhere else, and then wait to utilize the capital based on the project you feel comfortable with and want to tackle.  

The model for the last year has been putting the biggest fires out first and letting the smaller ones lie until I have the time to tackle them.

I do think it's a good learning experience for an investor to tackle at least once because by the nature of being able to be either redeemed out or taking title for whatever exit purposes you are thinking, it's a relatively safe prospect.