Living Trust and pulling out a loan on a house that is paid off

[Mathew Collins]

Hello BP family!

  I have come to an understanding that I need to get my assets in a "Living Trust".    Before I get it started I wanted to get my real estate investing plan in place so I can mitigate the problems before they happen.  

With my house being paid off in Southern California I have a pretty good opportunity to borrow from it.  I was wondering what your thoughts would be on taking a loan out on my house that I live in and buying rental properties?  Should I put my house in a Living trust before???  after??? I were to borrow from it?  Or is there a better way for me to go about this?  I also work full time as a Union Electrician and make pretty a pretty good income to cover some as well.  

Thank you for all your wisdom I cant wait to read all your replies.

Sincerely ,

Mathew