I personally do not touch equity in my own home to incorporate into my business.

Explore the possibility of doing liability insurance instead, if you don't have much equity it may be your best, and much cheaper option.  

Certainly nothing ground-breaking in terms of ideas here, however I'll be very hands on (and on site) during the process to make sure that every step of the way is executed to a high standard and very carefully.Once I've hopefully developed a successful track record and gained experience, my next goal would be to move on to commercial assets (think multi-family, industrial etc) so that I can leverage my existing investor network and real estate knowledge to raise 3rd party equity and take on bigger projects.

And, if you’ve been in your house for a few years (or longer), there’s a good chance you’re sitting on a pile of equity — maybe even more than you realize.What Is Home Equity?

Leverage your existing equity to invest in smaller properties, such as a mixed-use or retail space, to gain experience and cash flow.

Yes I am, I have been a resident of the poconos going on 6 years, and have been an agent for 12.

Hi,I am an investor in single family homes and am interested to use my equity in them to start investing in multi unit shopping center retail.

We have $150K in equity. 

First, are you looking to buy a single family residence or another type of property? 

Maybe consider getting a p.m. company that would do some boots on the ground and some research for you to find out what some of these issues could be because you are not close to the residence in the location, unless you can do some research yourself online, or consult with the historical Society of the area, look things up at the library, there are lots of different ways that you could start this process, but my point being that you may end up losing more money in the long run.