Using a HELOC to buy 1st investment property

[Zach Robertson]

Hello, this is my first post on the forums but I am a big fan of the Biggerpockets books and especially the podcasts. I am currently in the closing process of purchasing my home that I will be living in. I am buying it from my parents and they extremely-generously gifted me about $50,000 in equity in the home which I was able to use as a down payment for the home so I did not have to pay anything out of pocket for a down payment. My question is, am I able to use that equity right away in the form of a HELOC to buy an investment property? I am very grateful for the gift of equity and I certainly want to be able to use it to jump start my investing career! I have a couple friends who are realtors and want to help me find my first deal, and we have been analyzing properties on the MLS for awhile but the big thing holding me back is financing. So I guess my main questions are -

How soon is too soon to inquire about a HELOC from the bank?

Can I use a HELOC to purchase an investment property?

I also have cash saved up that I could use for a down payment for a separate property, would I be better off just doing that instead of trying to use the HELOC?

Thank you in advance, I am extremely new to all of this and looking to learn as much as possible.