Investing in Everett, Renton, and Snohomish

I'm definitely the newbie to the BiggerPocket community, and for that matter, the world of real estate investing. My wife and I have been analyzing several properties that we feel would be a cash flow positive and adhere to the 12% cash on cash rule. My question is whether pulling a line of credit on our permanent residence is a smart move or should we pursue the path of private money lending. We have about $300K in equity that we could pull as a HELOC loan. We are wanting to use the BRRRR method of real estate investing.

I’d love to connect with wholesalers, bird dogs, or anyone that has leads on distressed properties in the Everett, Arlington, Snohomish, or Renton area.