Accessing my equity

[Riley F.]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I have 2 homes that were purchased on 20% conventional financing for $70k and appraised for $105 apiece, which gives me the below numbers:

Purchase Price	$140,000
Value	$210,000
Down	$28,000
Loan	$112,000
Equity	$98,000
@ 25% LTV	$157,500
Cash available @ 25% LTV	$45,500

It looks to me like I have $45,000 in equity in these 2 homes that I would like to use for upcoming purchases. My questions are 2:

1) Are the initial appraisals a good proxy for cash out refi or HELOC appraisals?

2) What is the best way to access this money, if you would recommend accessing it at all?