Pay off or refinance?

[Derrick W.]

I bought a house and did a ton of work on it.   According to my realtor  I have around 30k in equity.  I buy and hold so selling isn't really an option. 

Do I 

A: pay it off and up my buying power through increased cash flow. 

B: refinance and up my buying power through leverage. 

Leverage is faster and pay off is safer. This is in a c- area so I'm afraid that leverage would require a rent rate that would leave little to no cash flow.