Looking to leverage Equity (Getting started)

[Matt Yates]

Hello,

My name is Matt originally from Omaha and now residing in Sunny Arizona. I have been listening to the Bigger pockets podcasts and reading alot of the books for well over a year. I signed up for Bigger Pockets officially a while back but never posted anything. Yesterday I recieved a notification on my Gmail asking if I would like to unsubscribe from Bigger pockets(Um No!) So clearly I've been slacking. Well no more!

I have always had aspirations of owning multiple rentals but the barrier to entry always seemed too high.. However after hearing all the stories of people building themselves up with just a 9-5 and some drive I know it can be done. I know where there is a will there is a way. So I thought what better resource do I have but a forum full of experienced investors?

No I'm a novice investor looking for advice/suggestions. However I do know buildings, remodeling and construction. I'm currently a Director of Engineering for a large Hospitality chain, I've done a bunch of handyman work and did about 10years of commercial construction however I know almost nothing about the financing end of things. I currently own one cash flowing rental property in Midwest with about 130k in equity and have had some significant appreciation with my primary residence in AZ(200k). So while I may not have a fat bank account I do have some money tied up in my properties and want to know how to put it to work for me.

My question to you fine people is how do I free up that capital? I know of Helocs being a means to pull cash from a property but I'm not sure that will solve my problem. One issue I've came across in the past is debt to income ratio. I would like to get into some fix and flips or even a buy and hold multi family but I'm stumped. How do I use my equity to transition into that? I already have two mortgages and can't imagine I could get approved for a 3rd one. So what's the secret? Do I talk to a mortgage broker? Help a guy realize his dream of being an investor and give me some suggestions so I can take that initial first leap!

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing some responses!