Should I invest in cash or take out a mortgage

[Jessica Wieser]

I have about 500K to invest. I am a new investor and have not dipped my toes into the pond yet. I want to make a wise decision for my first investment. I am in the process of educating myself on options. I am considering pursuing long term rentals, short term rentals and flipping. Or maybe a combination of that. Would it be best to invest all cash? Or take out a mortgage so I can scale. My focus right now is cash flow. I figured I could get better deals with an all cash deal and maybe take out a loan later when I am ready to expand my portfolio and hopefully rates will be better. Avoid the interest. My understanding is you get a slightly better cash on cash return with a mortgage, but I don't see the point in taking on the extra interest right now when I don't have to. I was considering taking on a few long term rentals or one larger short term rental. The concern I have with short term is the regulations regarding this are constantly changing. Appreciate the advise.