Can you either rent out your current property if there’s been little/no appreciation, or sell it tax free?

This could allow you to use the full amount for purchasing real estate without needing to sell your stocks outright and incurring significant tax implications.

Wholesaling is another way to generate cash by finding off-market deals and selling them to investors.

Additionally, I would suggest you run some financial calculations such as cash on cash return as well as any appreciation from the asset if/when you sell.

I almost exclusively work with investors and business owners in buying and selling in Baldwin County. 

I was living abroad buying/selling real estate mostly land, and some land with structures.

Your ability to identify properties and markets where you can generate equity (both imputed and appreciated) while using debt responsibly and knowing when is most appropriate to sell is how you acquire more real estate. 

When someone would search “need to sell my house fast” into google, sometimes my ad would pop up, they’d go to my site and fill out a form.

this is a direct relation to lack of inventory.. new construction on many markets is as robust as its ever been.. we have had spectacular years the last 3 years of course during covid was tough with supply chains but my 500k house I am now selling for 700k and my build cost have gone up by maybe 100k.. so record profits for us.. 

Maybe a mom & pop owned small multi-family can owner finance or sell to you with some guidance for the transition.