Or since the money in the brokerage account is just for emergencies, should I just leave it in there to allow it to potentially grow, further padding my reserves overtime? 

It’s a lot easier to use your heloc for emergencies than having to back to a lender.

emergency" and by all means pay that off.

I ask all my renters to provide an emergency contact that they authorize to remove their belongings from the rental, pay obligations, or receive refunds.

Write that list down and keep it handy on your desk as a reminder of where you are now, and where you want to go, and I’ll explain what I mean by this by example.There are patterns which emerge in this value selection, which are a reflection of who we are.

@Alex Goon I'd keep working and saving, and house hack whenever you have enough saved up for a down payment, reserves and emergency cash.

Most normies have debt and would be best advised to keep $1k as an emergency fund and pay off their consumer debt, smallest balance to largest with the remaining $9-$14k. 

I like people to have a 6 month personal emergency fund and a 3-6 month RE emergency fund to hedge risk.

Many investors prefer to have large emergency funds for both personal and investing, but many also feel comfortable with less.

The personal reserves would cover unforeseen personal situations (lost job, medical emergency, etc).