Please note that the link to the article above was written in 2019 and as such, does NOT take into account the new laws passed in CA, i.e.

I would keep the property, take the extra cash flow & invest in more rentals/real estate strategies. maybe start another business. never sell the house unless i absolutely have to. 

How can I take this money and put it down on a couple properties and use them to negate the tax obligations? 

It only takes 30 secs of my day but yields important numbers.Example; I just checked a pending property around the corner from our rental because the size and bed/bath count is the same.

Can I take out a HELOC/somehow leverage to pull cash out for a down payment on another property?

This is considered a personal home - even though it has rental income, so you only have to have 3.5% down frequently, not the 20% down it takes to buy a true investment property.  

I plan on take a trip to there to know the city better.

I would love to get your take on wholesale law and any wholesalers you might recommend.  

My plan was to take few trips back to Virginia, try to network and prepare my plan before leaving Dubai and going back for good.  

My concern.. if these big corporations are buying up a majority of houses, assuming there’s no legislation in place to stop them from doing so or sell them off, now IS the time to buy before they take everything from us over time.. it DOES seem like now or never.Regardless of recession and lay offs in the future, these big corporations will just buy more, they’ll never run out of money. and we will all have NOTHING.