First Post - Want to rent current house

[Ricky Santos]

Hi BP! Bought my house in 2020 and it's appreciated quite a bit in 2 years. Thinking of moving across the country and getting a new build. I want to rent my current house out. Maybe get a HELOC to use as down payment for the new one? I know it's not the sexiest way to get into real estate but for someone risk averse, might be one of the safest. For comps, 2 houses (practically same as mine) on same street sold. One sold on Sep 2021 for $138k more than my house and the other sold on Dec 2021 for $168k more than my house. If moving doesn't work out, I can always move back in to this house at the mortgage I locked up when I bought it. I can probably rent this house for at least $900 more than my mortgage. Any thoughts/recommendations on how to finance the new build? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.