My husband and I are currently looking at taking out a HELOC on our primary residence to fund the purchase of our first short term rental which will ultimately also become our primary residence in the next few months.

I had good impressions of both when I was considering hiring someone, but ultimately decided to self-manage my rental in Silver Spring.

Hey Heidi,I think it would ultimately depend on your strategy for the house in the future.

The seamless route would be to do the $10K route then go the attorney/court route if that ultimate has a snag, which it sounds like it will not have one. 

Point them to the forums, pod-casts and the Ultimate Beginners Guide.  

Since they are the one's who'll ultimately decide how far your real estate empire goes, it's a good idea to make sure you've got someone you regularly talk to there, and knows what you're trying to accomplish.  

Ultimately, I desire to own commercial real estate, while at the same time learning how to flip and wholesale properties. 

Atlanta is in the top 10 markets for student housing see below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Ultimately I'd like to get into the investment / real estate field full time.

Welcome to BP Lance, it's the ultimate resource for Investors.