you will then be off to the races, you can repeat these steps periodically to strengthen your score!

You will spend a lot to try to compete and rates are a race to the bottom and you cannot compete with people who bought 5 years ago at half the price and half the interest rate. 

@Deanne Bourne um...not in CA so don't have a horse in the race so to speak...but isn't another way of phrasing this "if the family is living in the home taxes won't be raised"  ?

If you have or have had a financial mess to clean up that makes you part of the human race.

I suppose it’ll be a race to see if interest rates decline before pre-2022 syndications run out of liquidity.

Slow and steady wins the race.

I have about $30k in the bank with approximately $80k that could be pulled out of my primary home with a HELOC.The main reason I am looking to invest in real estate is to escape the rat race, get out of a traditional W2 job so I can spend more time with my family and become overall financially free.

2) And how many horses does each participant bring with them?

It is as much - if not more - an investment in the jockey not the horse.

You are putting the cart before the horse.