Should I use savings or a HELOC for my first property?

[Jon Summers]

Hey everyone. I literally just wrote my introduction post, but I have a question and want to jump right in. I still need to establish an LLC to buy my first property, but I'm thinking about how I should finance the purchase. My wife and I are in a great financial position. Our only debt is a used car loan, we have $30K in savings, and we own our house free and clear. We are both 27 years old. My wife does not like the idea of using any of our savings as a down payment on a investment property. I thought about getting a HELOC depending on the property I find worth investing in. I live in a very inexpensive college town area (you can buy a move-in-ready 2/2 apartment for $40-$60K). My goal is to find a decent duplex or triplex that doesn't need a ton of work. I've been reading that traditional mortgage lenders require at least 20% down for investment properties, so if I bout a property for $50,000- I'm not sure I can convince my wife to let me invest $10K of our savings. But, what if a found a great deal for $100,000? There's no way my wife would agree to use $20,000 of our liquid cash, and I can't say I blame her. I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, but I was hoping you great people would chime in on how you would finance your first property if you were in my shoes. Thanks!

[Bob Okenwa]

@Jon Summers

I would try to leverage the money through the HELOC if there were no other alternatives. But you better be extremely confident in the property and your exit strategy as your primary residence is on the line if things go awry. Also, traditional mortgage lenders will not lend conventional mortgages directly to LLC's. It would have to be a commercial mortgage and those usually require at least 25% down. If you use the HELOC, you can try following the BRRRR method to get your money out so you're not all tied up in one property.