How much is to much leverage?

[Jordyn Ohs]

Hi all, As the title says, how much is too much leverage at one time. I currently own 3 homes and used my heloc to front the down payments. I still have half of my heloc left. Is it better to keep adding equity by doing work on the houses while I'm renting them then refinance to recover the initial down-payment to reinvest into another property or to pay down the heloc? Or should I just exhaust the heloc and keep buying houses?  My market area is Medicine Hat AB. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks everyone.