Just paid off mortgage...Should I refinance and pull money out?

[Adam G.]

I've been fortunate enough to build a good sized commercial real estate portfolio that I started building when I was in my late 20's. I started out looking to put some money back for retirement and I hate the stock market gamble, so I purchased real estate. I was blessed that it turned into a very successful business. Now that I've just turned 40 and my first commercial mortgage paid off this month and I'm trying to figure out what to do. 

Several very wise and extremely successful commercial investors I know keep telling me to refinance, pull out capitol and invest that into new deals. I'm leaning toward this option but it feels so wrong to re-leverage a paid off property. LOL I'm wondering what other commercial investors do?  Do you pay off and hold or do you re-leverage and buy more?