My First Post - Where I'm At, and Where to Go From Here?

[Peter Grella]

Hello BiggerPockets!  This is my first post and it's a bit of a selfish one.  I'd like to share with the community my personal investing story (as brief as it may be thus far) and hopefully get some feedback/input/advice on how to best proceed from here.

I am a relatively young investor (26 yrs old) and I purchased my first duplex with a partner back in July 2015.  We purchased this property at an auction for $190k.  In my area (Long Island, NY), this is definitely cheap for a duplex.  It needed quite a bit of work and we spent $120k on rehabbing the property.  All in, we've spent $310k and we have both units rented, bringing in $3900/month between the two.  Taxes, insurance and general expenses are about $1000/month, leaving us with a cash flow of ~$34,800 per year (an 11.2% cash-on cash return).  I am very happy with how this first investment has turned out and am ready to move on to the next one.  So, I turn to the BP forums for advice!

I would like to continue building my investment portfolio through a BRRRR strategy. I have been looking everywhere for potential properties and believe I can purchase another home and rehab it while keeping my total costs under $350k. My first question is, how should I go about getting this liquid capital to invest again? I believe my first duplex will be valued at ~$500k - would you recommend taking out a mortgage on this property or potentially a HELOC? After finding the capital for this second property, what would your opinion be on how to continue? Following a BRRRR strategy, could I continue to pay off properties in full and subsequently refinance either through a mortgage or a HELOC, and keep buying new properties? I feel like I've had a great start and would love to get some input before I make my next big move.

Thanks for reading and any input is greatly appreciated!  Thank you.