We don’t plan to leave jobs and live off of the portfolio but have it as a wealth generator aka hedge against future risks

The answer is to value this as any other business generating income, not just stick within the confined box of valuing the real estate only.  

It can generate sympathy for landlords and may even shame the tenant into leaving. 

The ability to generate more income for simply the cost of a building is another huge cost saving over buying an expensive commercial lot and developing it.

I've started flipping houses in the HRM (currently flipping a house in Fairview that was purchased off market) and plan to focus on flipping to generate cash flow for the next while. 

If I assume this is a rental property, your income isn't over $150k, and you're not a real estate professional then the losses the rental property generates could offset other income up to a certain amount. 

House hacking lets you live in one unit and rent out the others, which can help cover your mortgage and generate some extra income.

I think the HELOC is the way to go if you can - However after reading your post, if you are talking about a 6 figure pay day, how long would the property take to generate that 6 figures in cash flow?

We've run about a 20% vacancy rate. 2 of our MTRs have been great, the third we sold after it wasn't generating enough inquiries over two years of effort.

Hey Mark,I’d also recommend considering DataFlik for deal sourcing and lead generation.