Should I sell or rent it and use HELOC to get my second property

[Shangke Zhang]

Hi, I am located in Southern Utah. 

Recently, with some life updates, I have considered upgrading to a bigger place. 

Right now, I own a 3 bed 2.5 bath townhouse with equity of around 149K. 

If I rent it out as a whole unit, it could be about 1400 - 1600. It will give some positive cash flow for sure. 

The house I am looking at is about 360K. If I used HELOC to pay the downpayment, my monthly mortgage could be about 2400. I am thinking about doing house hacking with the second house.

How should I choose? Any suggestions and thoughts are welcomed. Thanks,