@Marcus Auerbach provided great practical advice and his 5 layers really boil down to one thing.... be a good operator.

Hard Money can be boiled down to Project Cost/ARV. 

The sound & practical advice @Aristotle Kumpis references boils down to venue and choice of law.

Paying for a Section 8 investment course is the equivalent of an aspiring cook paying for a course titled: How To Boil Water

Replacing everything will definitely increase the home's value but at the end of the day, it really boils down to the comps. 

Most of the paid coaching programs are inspirational guru shops whose training ultimately boils down to "cold call fifty realtors an hour every hour for the rest of your life."

As of right now, the way the math boils down with conservative estimates based on current cash flow on the 2 duplexes and my income, $7-8k per month would be put back into paying off the heloc once the amount of units that I'd like to be at is hit.

If we really boil it down to the nuts and bolts of it, price (in a normal market) would have likely taken a dip but the real impact will be all the people who are bonused and overcompensated being cut from those companies.

Quote from @Karina Busch: Quote from @Tyler Divin: One more point about duvets: the reason we sometimes use triple sheeting instead of a duvet boils down to cleaner personal preference. 

I simply encouraged others to read more carefully.