This is common practice as they get you in their doors with a free seminar, then you are pitched some education program for several hundred to several thousand, then the upsell to the “insiders club” for tens of thousands.

What would be the best way to leverage this equity towards the purchase of rentals? 

Since you are new to REI, the obvious start is with education but I would suggest making some 5 year, 1 year, 6/3/1 month goals with the end in mind (retirement and lifestyle).

Realistically, I suggest seeing all available, (New, Resales, Foreclosures, etc.) then you have a logical basis for making an educated decision of which home best suits your needs and lifestyle. 5.

Considering how crazy rent is here and how difficult it is to have a place to live, you should keep and leverage it.

I am happy to help educate you about the Greenville market.

Our focus is strictly on multifamily and the presentations are informative and educational in a relaxed setting that lends itself well for networking.Here is the link to our next event.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/60...Thanks and hope to see you there.

Don’t be afraid to fail and if you do treat it as an education! 

You may also want to factor in the education from investing versus not.Thoughts @Michael Lee @Andrew R.

affiliate_id=489888 They have a great self-paced starter course for under $500 that I think provides the basic info which let's you learn what you don't know to further your education.