Is there an advantage to using equity from my home to purchase an income property?

[Peter Stanford]

I have close to 450k of equity in my current home, we don't own it free and clear, just put down a very large cash down payment. I spoke with a lender yesterday and he suggested I open an equity line on my house and use that as cash to purchase an income property, avoiding all of the paperwork of a second mortgage. Is this something people do?