I am in process of buying my second home which I plan to move into.We first bought our first house in 2012 for low 200's in suburbs of Nashville TN.Now the house is worth 440k.Balance on mortgage is 162k.The second home will be a new build in 500k range.My husband makes about 85k per yr.I want to start off investing in reral estate to have a cushion for kids education and retirement.At this point,our lender mentioned that hubby will be approved for 500k mortgage at 3.125% with 10% down.Provided the present home also rents out and we have a lease of 1 yr signed.We have all this set up.He also mentioned we can look into heloc.How do we do that.I have no idea about it and dont want to do it ignorance.I also plan to buy another home for investment asap after we move into second home.I am a SAHM and will be for quite some time.Any advice?

You will also get benefits that will help pay for your training/education in becoming an agent.

BP has great education. 

Definitely start with education through books, podcasts and networking.

@John Buffet I'd max out your teacher salary (can you take continuing education to increase it?)

My two-year goal is to own one rental property, using the first year to save money, get rid of the little debt I have, and educate myself.

With regards to sellers make sure you have a prepared, educated and researched reason to refute the "Zillow Zestimate" on their web site for the potential sellers property they are wanting to sell.

I (and many others) have talked about syndications on this forum and there is plenty of 'education' out there to get up to speed.

My biggest challenge was educating myself on building codes to ensure that I did things right the first time.

Get an education, learn more than spending any money.