HELOC? Wanting to buy rentals more out of state

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Hi everyone! My husband and I have been members on here for some time now, but are finally are utilizing it - I love reading all the forums and figured I'd post since we are trying to figure out our next move and need some advice! 

I am currently a San Diego / Riverside realtor. We own two homes currently - one rental property in Oceanside, CA and our primary in Temecula, CA. We lived in our Oceanside rental for 2ish years before renting it out while my husband was stationed at Camp Pendleton and it has been awesome for us newbies. It has appreciated roughly 250k since buying it in 2019 and cash flows us almost 1k a month (2.1% interest rate). We are POSSIBLY looking into a HELOC on our Oceanside rental in order to purchase more long term rentals out of state. We are not super familiar with HELOCs since my main clients are 95% younger military families!

Can anyone share the good, bad and ugly of a HELOC especially in our situation? Our goal is to buy a few long term multi-units out of state to create financial freedom for the future! 

(Locations we have in mind are possibly Ohio, TN or NC near their military bases since we are familiar with NC more than anywhere else since my husband was stationed there 5ish years) 

Thank you in advance - any advice is appreciated!