@Lance Friesz Hi Lance I'm a broker in Paso and have a handful of investor clients I work alongside on their Airbnb's out here while they live in the Bay Area.

Good introduction Brandon, Feel free to DM with any hiccups you and your friends may have getting started. 

Given that by focusing more on my own properties I am going to be virtually eliminating paying work from clients that I would otherwise be doing, should I figure in a wage for myself alongside the wage that I pay my employees when deciding how much money to borrow?

There are always small hiccups but we learn and adapt as we go.

My hiccup comes with finding a lender who is willing to offer me a HELOC on my rental....I've got lenders willing to provide a HELOC on my primary residence, but I would rather keep my personal home out of my investment business if I can help it.

If someone offers cash alongside your financed offer for the same price and you just have higher EM, you're likely still going to lose that battle.

I haven't done a lot of work with HELOC but I work alongside @Corby Goade who uses them all the time to take out money to invest into other properties.

Given that I am 24, with no prior experience in real-estate and no family to help me, this was a huge project to undertake (alongside a very demanding job). 

A full 200 page PDF with all details down to the species of trees that would go in alongside the homes.

Do you have an interest to invest alongside him?