Fixed or HELOC on primary residence?

[Ryan Moore]

I'm looking to squeeze a little cash out of my primary home for the purposes of purchasing another multifamily property soon.  I've been down the road of having a fixed home equity loan before, and I currently have one on my primary home.  I've never had a HELCO before, but I'm well aware of the differences and what to expect with rates down the line.

From a strategy standpoint, I'm trying to see why one would be better over the other. If I get the HELOC, it will have a balance already from my current 2nd mortgage, but I will still have credit left over. I like that as I pay it off, I have more available to use for a purchase, versus the fixed provides me zero benefit as I pay it off (except home equity again). I could then rinse, wash, repeat with the HELOC. Even as rates go up, we are still historically low and I have no problem paying a higher rate for these amounts.... and they would be part of my short term strategy to pay back quickly.

I can get the same CLTV on a fixed vs HELOC currently from a local credit union, so the cash would be the same.

What am I missing here that would make the HELCO not the best decision?