Sell or refi?

[Jody Knight]

my husband & I have decided that we are ready to start investing in RE but are torn about the best way to accomplish this. Here are the two scenarios:

1. Sell our existing home with a potential net gain of $150-170k after all fees and moving expenses have been paid, part of which we would use to pay cash for a home to live in and be mortgage free and use the balance to buy our first rental OR 

2. Borrow against the equity in our current home (approx $200k) and use that to start investing in rentals right away.