I am interested in paying off my loan balance on my Primary house ASAP as I pay a pretty heavy Mortgage every month.

Owners pay not to deal with problems.

my condolences on your recent lost.there are a few ways you can do this, as mentioned above you can take a heloc on your primary residence which will give you a second mortgage, first mortgage payment wont be impacted. you can do cash out refinance which will give you one mortgage and payment. it will pay the old mortgage and give you money in your pocket to pay for the rehab.or you can do a renovation refinance which is similar to cash out refinance but we would contractor involved  as part of the refinancing and they are paid through the loan

If you plan to buy in your hometown, buy a 2-4 unit, and live in one of the units.

if the second buyer is paying cash then your done they pay your off and your first note.. off to the next one..

Cost of capital is high right now. 

I own a large portfolio of single family properties and all of my info I give out comes from my personal investing expierence. 

I’m not sure where you’re from or how long you’ve lived in Texas but I highly recommend moving out of state and out of your comfort zone while you’re young enough to easily be able to do so.

Quote from @Mario MoralesMorales: what if he got a HELOC, used the funds to get a property, then cashout-refi the new property and pay off the heloc?

In this era of increased rates, obtaining properties that will produce a good return are harder to find and often involve quite a bit of work.