Payoff a rental mortgage?

[James Mcgowan]

Love to have feedback from our BP community. Client has a current detached house that rents for 2100 per month. He's had it for many years (used to live in it). Never refi'ed it even tho its at 6.5%, mainly bc he only has 9 years to pay off and didnt want to "start over." Current loan has roughly 120k left, 9 years, and current value is around 300k, as is. Hot area of Atlanta so selling would be pretty quick at 300k and leasing around 2-2.2k shouldnt be too big of problem even if slow down occurs...whenever that might be. Question is, would it be best to just go ahead and pay that 120k off which would result in about 1100 per month "savings" and then possibly open HELOC on it, or, invest that 120k somewhere else? One problem with deploying that money elsewhere is its been a rough go trying ( been looking for awhile..around ATL mainly ) to find deals that actually number out like they would compared to gaining that 1100 per month. Hope that makes sense and thanks for any input that you provide. I'm a bit stumped as how to advise on that. Seems like a good idea to pay if off and have that cash flow, but on other hand, seems like more doors would be best for an overall portfolio.