Beginner investor and would love some advice please

[Elizabeth Rose]

Hi BP community,

I'm a beginner investor and would love some advice please. I live in a condo located in California and have a mortgage. I want to buy a second property - my goal is to buy a multifamily and move into one of the units, then rent out my condo. 

I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to do a cash-out refi or a HELOC on my condo to get the down payment for the new property. My current mortgage has a very low 2.75% interest rate... all of the quotes I'm getting for refi are 4%+. The variable nature of the HELOC freaks me out a bit in the current environment we're in, but it would give me the option to pull out equity while leaving my current 2.75% mortgage rate as is.

I'd love any guidance you can offer - thanks in advance!