At least HELOC is cheaper than private money or hard money.Borrow, buy property, stabilize it, refinance and pay down your debt or buy another property.

You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months.

Continue this until I have 10+ cash-flowing units, 3-4 years in and then refinance all and put 25-30% down on a commercial apt building with around 20 units bringing total # of units to 30+.

Sell, cash out refinance or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). 

You are likely still going to run into a guarantor issue when you refinance into a permanent loan.

The more you refine the process the easier it will get. 

The downside is the Mortgage insurance that is there for the life of the loan however once you reach 80% LTV you can refinance into a conventional which will remove the Mortgage insurance.If the plan is to get a non-owner occupied loan then you will need 15% for a 1 unit or 25% down 2-4 unit.

@Noah Cull if you are looking to BRRRR talk to someone that you can refinance out with prior to purchasing the property, see their terms for a cash out refinance and what they require time wise so you can pay back your nice friend promptly

About 12 years into the loan I was able to execute a cash out refinance to buy shares of the company I work for, which made a minority owner and partner*.

If you decide to refinance and pull equity, you won't be able to utilize the 5:1 ratio which your cash should be providing you.As for which path is better is a highly personal one.