Question about HELOC with Primary Residence

[Zachary Blomberg]

Hi All!

I’m still relatively new to the real estate world, so this might be a simple question, but I appreciate all feedback.

I have been in my primary residence for about a year, and refinanced a few months ago. My appraisal was $18,000 higher than a year ago, so with my down payment i have about $40,000 in equity.

In the future I am interested in doing a HELOC to get started with my first rental property. My question is: if I wait until the market corrects to pursue this HELOC, will I lose out on the increase in home value? Does a lender use the appraised value on my current mortgage to calculate the HELOC, or do they conduct their own evaluation.

Thanks for your help!

Zach