Speak to your CPA to see whether this is an option, I am not qualified to advise. 

Trying to narrow down options within the St.Pete area for Multifamily properties.

Any suggestions on how I move forward or what options I have?

At this point the value of the house is still increasing but not at the same rate as the previous years for a number of obvious reasons (high Interest rates,  age of house, etc.) and at this point I'm not sure what my next move should be since I don't like having all that equity tied up in the property and borrowing against it (HELOC) doesn't seem like a good idea since banks seem to be charging even higher than "normal" interest rates because the house is not my primary residenceIt's been almost 2 yrs since a I moved out of the house and I know my time is running out before we'll have to pay capital gains on the property if we chose to sell it [unless I do a 1031 exchange of course] but wondering what other options I might consider.

Hi Cyndy, definitely a lot of great options in the private money space.

Or, if my better option would simply be to keep saving and learning for the time being.

Hi Chris, I'm looking to explore writing seller financed paper.   

Google Sheets and Quickbooks are going to be your best option

I would like to know the risks involved with the lease options niche please?

Depending on how your income looks, you Non-QM might also have to be an option.