HELOC or not?

[Ron White]

Hi David,

We are the owners of a four-bedroom Cape Cod home with a detached garage on a 2.89-acre lot in Snellville GA. We listen to your podcast daily and we have the bug to get into real estate investing. We put 25% down on our house at the time of purchase and we have approximately $200K+ in equity.

Our home has three bedrooms on the upper level with 2.5 half baths. We have a bedroom on the lower level with its own bath and approximately 1100 square feet of living space. Also on the property is a detached two-car garage.

We are thinking about converting the lower half of the house into a separate short-term rental space. We have an estimate for approximately. $35K to install a kitchen and laundry room. We also believe the detached garage could be an excellent ADU candidate. We are wondering what loan vehicle (i.e., HELOC, Construction, Rental Purchase, or other) you would suggest using to fund the effort or would you use the funds to purchase an additional home instead? A lot of possibilities and we would like your advice on how to proceed.

Stephanie and Ron