Putting Together First Investment Property Using Home Equity Line of Credit

[Matt J.]

Hi everybody, I'm looking to put together our first rental property and I'm starting to look into how to come up with the money to do so. 

Here's some basic information about our situation. We currently own a home in Saint Paul, MN. It's our primary residence, and we owe about 158,000 on it. The house is worth close to 230,000. I'm thinking, we could go and get a home equity loan to cover a down payment for a duplex or triplex in the area. Is this a sound business decision? 

Another idea I had was to use that money to do a flip, and increase the cash to possibly buy even more properties. 

Any opinions or advice on our situation?