There is tremendous YOY appreciation but there's also a lot of competition.

I do have a tremendous amount of equity in my own home I'm just nervous about tapping into it for fear of if something happened to the market or to me (the main source of income for my family).

If you could do that and tremendously increase your equity, raise rents you may be able to improve your cashflow and then take out some of the equity and go invest it elsewhere.It seems like you are sitting on a huge opportunity to develop some equity, just have to look at all the scenarios and see where you come out best.If you sell, while you may get some walking money and a nice profit, you are likely leaving a lot on the table for the new owner to capitalize on. 

For our family - owning a few rental/income properties has made a tremendous difference.

I would not do this deal for the following reasons:-Austin has had a tremendous run and while I do not see a huge downturn, I do not see how the run can continue at this level-Huge number of rental units coming on line that will bring down occupancy levels and rents will follow-Your $160 per month HOA fee WILL jump once the complex is sold out. 

I think there is tremendous growth in this whole area and builders can't put new inventory on the market quick enough. 

Welcome @Jeff Santiago.You can find local networking groups through MeetUp.com and NationalREIA.comWelcome to real estate investing and I wish you tremendous success!

Has it been tremendously helpful?

They want to down size and most aren't looking to buy new homes.Many members of the next largest group, millennials, have tremendous amounts of student loan debt keeping them out altogether or making them push off the purchase of a home. 

If you have a significant other with a W2, that would help tremendously.