I have been playing with the idea of real estate investing since my father passed and I suppose his entrepreneurial spirit fell upon me along with his love for our community.

I still have that property today and it continues to cash flow quite nicely.  

Most states do not allow you to play both parts with the same client. 

You also do not have to sell to realize that value...you can refinance, pull our your invested capital (and then some on this example), let the property continue to cash flow and use the refinance proceeds for the next deal.I was not necessarily recommending this strategy...just adding onto the BRRRR strategy from your initial post and describing the next level of leverage beyond that strategy since that was your question.

I am continuing my rental portfolio in Skagit and am scared to get my feet wet in a residential flip, though I've done plenty of commercial TIs in the past.

Books, trips, playing the part, etc.

There are factors that play into those percentages such as what state project is located in, your credit score, funds you have available, experience, etc...

You can live on $72K/year and continue to grow your business.Now, you may even mitigate that 40% tax if you cash out and invest your IRA in January.

I made several, and the corny ones play better than the corporate looking stuff.

Your worries about finding deals with enough equity spread may be an indicator that you need to continue to educate yourself.