Is Heloc right for me?

[Vincent Carosso]

I own a house with good bones and no mortgage. It's appraised at 500k, I have plans drawn up for a renovation and update between 150-200k. This current house is going to be my long term house, but at the moment I travel so much for work that my home base doesn't matter. I will spend about 6 months this year in Pittsburgh and a few months in San Francisco. My thought is to take out 75% Heloc to have funds available. Renovate my house and set up as full time rental the next couple of years to pay down the loan while I'm not there anyway. I live in a desirable area close to the city and multiple universities. With that money, try and find a SFH in Pittsburgh between 100-150 to live in while I'm working, once my contract is up, rent out that house and hopefully find a multi family to purchase and live in.

The numbers are as follows,

Once my house is renovated, it’s estimated appraisal, from multiple sources, depending on market etc..

Would be between 700-800k. I would rent that house at market value which is at the moment between 3500-4500 for comparable.

Then purchase a house with a passive brrrr for about 80-120. Live in it for 6 months and use my contracts living stipend to pay down that house and fix it up while accumulating equity. And once that ends, buy a duplex and live out of that.

I’m sure I’m missing info, so if you have questions and comments, please ask. And advice is appreciated, this is all new to me but I am about to jump in the pool. No toe dipping here.

Is a Heloc the right loan type for me and this scenario? I want to make my current house a tent pole for the future investments. I live outside of Philadelphia, and have a good team of people here, and have an even better team of people in Pittsburgh, which is why I am concentrating on these areas.