I feel like it may be good to also establish a relationship with a lender to streamline future projects. 

Only problem is that would take a long time.Hopefully that makes more sense.Quote from @Scott Mac: If you have to ask that question, nobody knows your situation better than yourself, and you could not answer yes your income is fine-  most likely it is not.

I have bene in Real Estate appraisal for the last 3 years. 

We had a primary and secondary residence and a long term rental when we purchased a vacation property in Punta Cana in 2016 to also use as a vacation rental when we weren't there.  

I'm trying to buy my first investment property with ~$100k saved up.My brother started his first W2 job last month that pays $45k/yr+ commissions.I plan to get a minimum wage job/an entry W2 job since I'm still in college and to hopefully qualify for a bigger loan.A lender estimated we'd be eligible for a $300k loan with $100k down, and a $2,500/mo payment on a $400k property with only my brother's income as of now.California is too expensive for us so I have been looking into out-of-state investment properties.What would be the best investing route for us to take to grow our wealth?

Despite owning our primary residence (paid in full) and being invested for so long, I am realizing I know very little about hands on real estate.

I fell into the returns trap in the last market cycle and learned my lesson.This happened in every industry, and it seems as if they are reporting the real estate deals more.

For the last two years, I applied to a heloc at the same bank and was basically laughed out the door.  

i bought a property last year to use as a Short Term rental in PCB. happy with my efforts this first year. i do not say as an Airbnb, as i got very few ABB rentals last year, mostly VRBO and direct booking.

Our experience is that A class tenants don't stay as long as B class.