Creative Financing for First Time Investment Property

[Taylor Carlson]

New to the idea of real estate investing, but have been reading books and listening to a number of podcasts lately and am starting to get a grasp on the concepts. I currently own a single family home in Southern Oregon (with a mortgage and a little over 100k in equity) and am interested in starting with some local real estate investing. However, I currently don't have a very big down payment (at least not without going into more savings than I'd like). What is your opinion on HELOC or home equity loans to help with a down payment for an investment property? Reasonable option to consider? Risks / rewards? How much do the current market conditions affect this strategy? Or is it better to just keep saving for cash down payment?

Thanks!