Seems like a HELOC on both would be a good choice, but I'm concerned about getting over-leveraged.- Any other thoughts or ideas about our situation and early research that could help us out?

But I would say honestly FB groups and I google search top agents and ask around because if they don’t do investor work I bet you they know someone who does.

Your loan officer is correct….but it is your choice. 

If you wanted to save time, I bet you could just read the show notes and pull a book list from those.My current favorite is "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow" by Frank Gallinelli 

We also give them both (or however many there are) the choice of doing a walk though when one moves out.

In my area I go to the 13th circuit Court website and I can look up law suits and even speeding tickets.You should have something similar and I bet with a few tries on google you can find it.

Nobody can tell you if a new $425k primary is a good bet/idea or not. 

Your first choice should be to find a CPA that specializes in real estate taxation and one that is local.

Cash flow might be more slim than markets in different states, but it is a safe bet to assume you will be able to comfortably raise rents each year at a minimum of 5%. 

I'm not one to bet on it yet.