Any one of us could give you our two cents on the math of it, but only you can decide if it makes sense based on what your specific goals are. personally, i paid points on my house because my goal was lowest possible monthly payment.

Hey Jon would recommend checking out FB groups if you aren't local (looks like you're based in the Bay).

Based on your advice to newer investors, should I play the long term game by paying off my house early (2030)?

You say you're based out of Vancouver yet your profile says Seattle.  

For this strategy you would distribute the property to partners based on their ownership share, dissolve the LLC and then partners collectively sell the property.

Generally yes a HELOC will go off your personal finances so qualifying is generally based on your income, liabilities, and credit. 

Typically, the tax is based on the assessed fair market value of the property at the time of the transfer, even if it’s not a traditional sale.

I'm looking to purchase my first rental property and have been searching for a deal that would generate positive cash flow based on my projections.

The article is based on # of sales, not price increase or decrease.

Based on this strategy, it would only take about 2.5 years to pay off the $160K.