Accidental investor introduction and dilemma

[Malcom Smith]

Hi all,

Been lurking for a while now reading as much as possible and learning alot.

I call myself an accidental investor as I've never thought of myself as an investor having lost money the two times I was into munis and stocks. With a very well paying job I just concentrated on saving as much as I could but now find myself mixed up in a bunch of things....

The first property I bought was a fancy 450K penthouse condo which was great for the 5 years I lived there. My family expanded so we bought a 1Mil house, deciding to rent out the condo as values had dropped a little below what I paid. Cash flow was slightly negative but I could afford to hold it and thought why not albeit the mortgage was 5.875%

Two years after buying the house rates have dropped so I refi'ed from 5.25% to 3.625% and also saved enough to completely payoff the condo mortgage.

By paying off the condo I get the whole mortgage rate back as if I was invested in something else at that rate. I could refi the condo down to around 3% but having looked extensively I cant find any investments without risk that would give me an larger net return.

To top it off the bank I refi'ed the house with also gave me a 100K Heloc for 4% and told me they have ETF funds averaging 13% return.

So the accidental investor in me says to go safe, pay the condo off and enjoy being a landlord with 5% RIO.
The ambitious investor in me says refi the condo, put all the free cash and 100K Heloc into ETFs and enjoy a 10%+ RIO.

What's your vote?