HELOC + Hard Money... good/bad?

[Nik Lavoie]

My wife and i are currently living in one side of a House Hack in Worcester, MA (about an hour west of Boston) and have access to 125k HELOC. We recently had our first child and are planning on moving into a single family home in the next year or so, but I am dead set on growing our rental portfolio on the side once we move out of the Duplex.

Considering our life plans and current situation, what is the best way to utilize this HELOC to grow our rental portfolio? one method i have heard is the HELOC+Hard Money combo, then refinancing out and repeating. is this something anyone has experience with? what other methods are out there that people have had success with? all ideas welcome!!

one note is that we would like to stay within MA for our investing for now, at least until we gain more experience. 

Thank you!!!