If your employer has a roth 401k option with good choices, you could use this if interested in contributing after tax. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $42.8 million in housing counseling grants to help approximately one million Americans make more informed housing choices, keep their current homes, or receive assistance to help them avoid foreclosure."

I'm not saying ignore DNC, you have to make that choice yourself per business needs.   

This is a very popular strategy, @Forrest Faulconer.

With M2M he wouldn't be breaking any lease terms and he had the choice to move.

@Matthew M Spolsky know/remember your “why”.For me, RE investing is my main retirement vehicle of choice but it’s really about my responsibility to provide for the future needs of my family and most importantly ensure my wife is taken care of.

pentagon federal, va, and the one in melbourne, fl, popular... cant remember the name..i hear helocs are tight right now 

But, regardless the situation or circumstance, in life you only have 2 CHOICES, MOVE FORWARD or GET LEFT BEHIND.I am really interested in learning real estate, and feel like I am ready for the next step, but I fear that it couldn't have come at a more un-opportune time due to everything going on, and I have been stopped in my tracks.

Thanks to everyone who offered input, seems like the smart choice here is to save more cash without getting any more leveraged! 

A lot of choices for this too.It's very uncommon for the mixer valve housing to go bad (they can leak but don't often break)The joys of home ownership...