Should I move to TX?

[Matt Jiencke]

Hey everyone,

Live in the Boston area and looking to getting start building a portfolio and have roughly $800k in equity sitting in our primary residence.   

We have some cash to get started with but I'm looking to scale as quickly as possible so I'd like to tap a good portion of our equity.  

My wife is originally from TX and would be a dream come true to move back (we won't get into the weather and other concerns I have...)

A friend of mine said to use our house as a bank but with HELOC rates being what they are, I'm considering selling and buying something more modest in the $500k range in TX.

Our primary is in a high appreciation area and requires flood insurance.   So moving to TX has several advantages.  

Is it worth taking on cap gains, realtor fees and moving costs or should I use a HELOC to get started?