I've been doing tons of research but I'm afraid to pull the trigger on anything since I don't have a lot of connections yet...

Quick to negotiate and pull trigger!

I suggest doing the HELOC first, then when you find a cash flowing asset to purchase, pull the trigger using the HELOC. 

The catch is inexperienced investors are slow to pull the trigger and so agents can get frustrated working and never seeing a commission.I purchased my first rental property with little to no experience, used 30K between down payment, closing costs, and traveling to the property to see it.

If you check those things and the numbers are still in line I would pull the trigger.

You can see how some ways of making the home compliant can be vastly different in labor.Also when you are in compliance you can fall out of compliance very quickly.

I need a hard loan or a partner the guy i was working with keeps backing out of deals, i think he's afraid to pull the trigger.

If you invest in the stock market and then find a real estate deal to invest in, prior to selling the brownstone, then pulling the money out in less than a year would trigger short term capital gains/losses.- Have you considered a DAF (donor advised fund). 

If im able to use the annual fee as a business expense then I am gonna do it but ill need to wait until i have a big enough expense lined up to hit the bonus on one of them before i pull the trigger on that. 

What I have read thus far is that these servicers “keep you in compliance with federal regulations” and it’s obvious they provide a value for investors wanting to scale, because I don't see how one could be involved with dozens or hundreds of notes and stay on top of it all.