New Investor in the South East North Carolina, looking for people to chat with.

Hi there, I'm just a married W2 employee looking for financial freedom. 

How does my approach sound and how can I improve it to grow rapidly?

My wife and I saved up enough money to purchase our first rental home for cash in October 2025, we spent $74,000 on a 2b 1ba pulling in $1150 a month. It appraised ~$107,000 so we opened a HELoC on the property to use torwards future properties or repairs. Skip to May of 2026 we closed on a $114,900 mortgage for a duplex property, using the previously mentioned HELoC to fund the 25% down. This property values at ~$156,000 prior to replacing cast iron plumbing and adding mini split HVAC, and pulls in $1900 a month. I have a loan on the remaining ~84k dollars, and a $42k dollar balance on the HELoC.

Is this a solid approach torwards entering the real estate market?

Is it worth getting a realtors license? 

Are using HELoCs to make these Purchases effective? 

What steps can I take to continue growing rapidly?