Depending on the asset and location you could still have significant appreciation in equity even without positive cash flow or income increases. 

And regardless of whether or not one agrees with you about the equity markets doing well or not, if you want to invest in equities, there are better ways.

It appears as though you have been cashing in equity from appreciating condos and 1031 exchanged them into apartment complexes. 

I have approximately $700k in equity in my home currently.With anticipation of a recession - what are the ways I can unlock that equity without doing a home equity loan or HELOC?

Purchase: $385KRehab: $45KTotal Cost: $430KTarget Rents: $5,100/mo; $60K/yrEst GRM: 7Est Cap Rate: 8-9% (8.5% @ 40% exp. ratio - all utilities metered & paid by tenants)Est Cash Flow: 10-13% (leveraged, w/ 25% down)Built-in Equity: $50-120K?

Say it is this amount, then there is $37000 in equity so it sounds like a short sale is out of the question.

I'm 28 years old and purchased my first home 3 years ago in a good SW Portland area, rehabbed & rented it, and now have a home producing $500/month cash flow with 150K in equity in it.I just purchased a residential home near downtown PDX by OHSU on Marquam Hill that I plan to rent out in a year.

To recapture appreciation you could have several three or more smaller properties to get to the same 200 K in equity as one larger property, of course you might not achieve the same appreciation if your homes are in a less desirable area.  

It seems like there will be a decent amount of built-in equity day 1, so maybe a potential to even pull some or all of my buyin out of the property?

My goal for 2017 is to go from $0 to $500,000 in equity.