Should I use a HELOC or wait

[Matthew Bayne]

Hello all, this is my first post on Bigger Pockets and was just wondering if anyone has any advice for me. 

I'm currently live in a SFH I bought in California back in 2015. I still have a mortgage on the house but I have quite a bit of equity in it. It still needs some work to be ready to rent. I've recently retired from the military so I have a small but steady income.

I feel like I have an advantage here by being in a house with so much equity but I'm not sure what to do. Should I wait and save some money for my next investment? or take out a Home Equity loan on my house, to either fix up my current home to rent out or invest in a different property? Or maybe something I haven't even thought of?

Any advice is greatly appreciated,

Matt