I want to buy my second home and rent out my current home

[Jimmy Leaton]

Should I use the equity in my primary home to purchase my next home? I will be renting out my current primary residence and moving to the house I will be buying.

[Scott Allen]

@Jimmy Leaton If you can rent out your primary home and it can be cashflow positive to help with upkeep from maintenance, repairs, and any bits of vacancy then it's worth exploring more. Do your research first though on how to pre-vet tenants or consider talking to at least 2-3 different property managers in the area. First figure out what your home can rent for and if the numbers can make sense with a tenant in place. 

An an effective way to use a HELOC would be on a value add/BRRRR deal. If the second property you are buying is not turnkey, will require some work, and there is a clear value/range of what you can bring the property to by adding value then you can refinance to pay back the majority if not all of your HELOC (used for downpayment or to buy the property completely).

You'll need to know how to analyze an after repair value of the property to figure out if that technique can work or not. Consider talking to lenders about what that refi process can look like/what will be needed as well for when you are planning to pay the HELOC back.