Buy with fixed mortgages or HELOCs?

[Uwe G.]

Hey BP folks. I am brand new to BP and have a question to get some advice. I currently have 2 rental houses that have fixed mortgages and was wondering what I should do with some extra cash I have saved. My first thought was to pay off one of the houses and open a HELOC to have access to the cash should I need it (buy next house in cash using LOC and additional saved cash)). My thought is that it takes me months to find a good deal and they are hard to come by these days. Why not save on the interest while I wait? Also, when it is time to deploy the cash out of the HELOC I feel like I have flexibility in controlling the monthly cash flow. The other option would be to try and buy 2 rental houses that would be mortgaged (or a single larger property). Any thoughts from the pros out there?