Best of luck on your real estate future, it's been a fun adventure for me!

But ya have to make some educated prognostications in life.Add this to the information your processing - What your talking about doing is eliminating around $4000 or interest expense (which is deductible anyway so really could be a real impact of eliminating $2800 or so) of debt in exchange for paying over $10K in capital gains tax (don't forget possible state gains tax as well).  

As small businesses, securing funding can be a real challenge.

Even still, it could be said that I've still lost money due to my time on the tools instead of prospecting as a real estate agent (the cost of lost opportunity).If you can truly do 80%-90% of the work yourself (at acceptable quality levels) and you aren't sacrificing your time where you can get better returns for your efforts, then yes, it can work even up here in Canada.

I am currently in the planning phase of my real estate investment journey and had a few questions I’d like to ask someone more experienced.Would it be smarter to focus on paying down my own mortgage and then use a HELOC as a down payment for my first investment property, or should I simply use my savings for the down payment instead?

It’s time for me to invest some of the money that I have sitting into real estate.

However, the tax treatment differs between short-term and long-term rentals:Short-Term Rentals (STRs): If you materially participate (work 100+ hours and more than anyone else on the property), you may be able to offset rental deductions against W-2 or other active income, offering greater tax benefits.Long-Term Rentals (LTRs): If your AGI exceeds $100K, your rental losses may be limited, unless you qualify as a Real Estate Professional (REPS).If you plan to expand your rental portfolio, consider an LLC later for liability protection and easier management.

I'm new to real estate investing, but have thrown myself into learning as much as I can by joining a Veteran based investment community, have been working with my realtor and looking daily for potential multi family properties in the Dallas area for house hacking, which I've set myself an deadline to be completed by May.

🙌 I love your focus on helping others achieve financial freedom through real estate – that's what it's all about!

Is that because you don't know what your Real Estate goal is?