long term plan is to keep the house, do a heloc to take out enough to buy a 4-6 MF income producing property in a different state where i grew up OR just outright sell the house in one or two years. thoughts?

I know I need to start this process because my current cash flow is low and there is significant equity that could be used to produce more cash flow in a different property.  

The traditional rental has a nice return but my student strategy will produce a higher return, albeit with more work.

Since rates are so low, I'm thinking I could leverage this opportunity to purchase another income producing rental.

First set of plans took me some 3-4 weeks to produce.

Yes, there are products out there that will allow you to refi after you complete your renovation with no seasoning requirements 

Because of this treatment in the CARES act, the multifamily industry weathered the worst of the pandemic.History tells us that during recessions, multifamily housing production contracts moderately, rent declines are short lived, and vacancies only increase briefly and by modest amounts.

( wear layer, thickness, padding, price)What surprised you the most with this product?

But physically altering with infrastructure etc creates inventory and requires you to start a new clock to demonstrate your intent to hold for productive use and allow the 1031.

If you're in Manhattan then the building layout looks just like other available products.