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Updated over 7 years ago on . Most recent reply
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Cash out refi or HELOC for new acquisitions: tax or other issues?
I know that leveraging one property to buy another is a common discussion but I had a very specific question that I can't seem to find a clear answer to searching here and the web which is if you leverage one property (via cash out refi, term loan, or HELOC), if you can new count any/all of that debt as "acquisition debt" for purposes of deduction in Schedule E (presuming you're buying a rental).
In my case, I've been approved for a HELOC on my current primary home which has lots of unused equity, and then use that HELOC towards closing costs on a new SFH purchase that I would take out a conventional conforming mortgage on, and had been planning to just deduct the interest on the HELOC as home equity. But since that's limited to $100k, wondering if it's preferable (or possible) to count all that additional debt as acquisition debt for tax purposes.
I figured HELOC was easier, less expensive, and less painful than doing a huge jumbo loan cash out refi, so figured I'd just do that to get in the game and learn my way around, and then could just do a cash out refi later on to both pay down the HELOC and make other new acquisitions.