My personal finances are in a decent shape; minimal debt and some money saved (not enough to cash buy or put down a high down payment),  My question is, should I use a HELOC  and use that to help leverage another deal or would it be best to rent the property and after 6 months claim that as income for another loan? 

I’m 23 and married with a 40 hour job that I would love to leave some day, I have $20,000 saved up with no investing experience.

During the Great Recession many home flippers used their own savings to purchase at then market rate.

But I left the farm and worked in industry, where I earned money from my labor (time --> money) to buy the 2,000 calories a day.I knew that if I saved a portion of my income and invested it in income-producing assets (money --> money), the day would come when the income from those investments would be enough to buy the 2,000 calories a day I need to stay alive (my parents were struggling farmers in what is today the Rust Belt and were always looking for innovative ways to survive financially).

I have spent the last year working two jobs to save money and at the same time improve my credit.

We do not have much in savings for a down payment, however, our friends agreed to sell us the house for well under market value.

Unfortunately, my cash reserves for down payments are gone but I don't want to wait till I save up another 25% that the bank requires for a loan, so here is my plan.  

I work at a large engineering firm making around $64,000/year; I’ve saved up for a couple of years now and have around 40k in savings.

Save up now, make the sacrifices, pay your future self. 

s as well as my mortgage broker, but just figured its worth asking on here to save some time and legwork.