Interested 3rd property options

[Collin Mueller]

Hi,

I am new here and although I have 2 rental properties currently, I am still very much a newb. I'm just learning as I go. I've had one of my property's for about 3 years now and my latest one I bought October 2019. I contacted my bank and let them know I was interested in opening a HELOC to put a down payment on another house or even a multi-family (duplex etc). I am currently deployed overseas so I went ahead and rented both units out, no idea how long I'll be out here.

Everything went well with the bank but they basically told me since I'm renting my primary house out then I can't take out a HELOC. I know I have equity in my house I've had for 3 years so I wanted to take advantage of that. I have a decent savings for a down payment but I don't want to use up all my reserves when I could be using equity.

I don't really know what I'm doing but I do know I want to get more investment properties instead of letting my money just sit around. My credit is excellent (800+) so I'm looking for some feedback on what I should do.

Thanks in Advance