And in regards to getting educated on the the laws, I assume the best route is to link of with an attorney who has experience with these types of transactions?

You're very under leveraged compared to most investors trying to scale.

Nobody ever went broke over a duplex, I know this now,  but I have to admit I had some serious doubts about this when I started 16 years ago, I bought every course I could find, already on CD's, this was post cassette tapes lol, and I paid RichDad Education for a one year coaching program (turned out my coach was a girl in a call center without any actual experience). 

"Leverage infill opportunities"...

Whatever you do, leverage smartly—DSCR loans can help you buy more without draining your cash, and depreciation will handle your tax burden for 2024.

They use leverage in some of their funds, which can increase returns, especially if they have a low cost of capital (but potentially increase risk and trigger UBIT issues).

Was able to gain some leverage prior to negotiating which resulting in a great outcome What was the outcome?

You've earned $132,000 more by splitting your money and leveraging it.There are other benefits to leveraged homes.

I got approved for a HELOAN on my primary property but not sure if I should take the loan to just use as “leverage/reserves” to show the HML and get funded.

You don't want to be so focused on getting into the game that you leverage the start of your entire life just to do it.