Tap equity for down payment to invest in income property?

[Mike Greenberg]

Hi all, total newb to investment properties here working a 9 to 5 in a high cost of living area (San Francisco, CA), and investing in an income property, and eventually moving to, a lower cost area (Chattanooga, TN) which also has much more favorable price:rent ratios than the Bay Area. The idea was to work another couple years and then "retire" to be a landlord to escape the office. We would rent out the pricey condo in SF, and then either move into our rental property in TN, or possibly just rent an apt for ourselves while we shop for a home or condo or fixer project then (in case anyone has experience doing something like that and would like to share lessons learned!). We have family/friends there who could help check out and inspect properties for us, though being out of state makes it tricky. We could just wait til we move, but we figured why not get a start on the process now to ease the transition (and cash flow) now?

Since we've seen so much appreciation here, and don't want to touch retirement savings, I'm hoping to tap a small amount of equity, less than 10% of current market value, to put towards a down payment on a house in TN.  I wanted to see if folks here thought it was prudent to tap into primary residence equity for down payment to invest in income property? If so, loan/2nd mortgage or line of credit? (cash out re-fi doesn't look economical with current rates). Is there a pain-free way to actually get a rate quote on either? I tried to get a rate comparison from Lending Tree but all I get are phone calls from people trying to upsell me (refinancing, etc. One broker said HELOCs aren't profitably for smaller lenders, they're a "concierge" service, whatever that means).

Appreciate suggestions!