Should we take out a mortgage on this home?

[Leah LaRue]

Hello, my sister/partner and I are brand new to this game. We jumped in head first and purchased our first rental property, a duplex, in February 2018 and our second, a SFH in April 2018. Both homes were paid for in cash, and we own them free and clear. The duplex is fully occupied and the SFH will be ready for a tenant at the end of this month. We were at a loss for how to get cash to purchase additional property, and are considering taking out a mortgage on the duplex. They are lumping in my sister's personal debt (that was what the loan officer suggested) so we will only get $30k in cash to work with. I am a bit reluctant to do so because it puts us in a position where we will have a 30 yr mortgage at $737/mo. We won't be able to get traditional mortgages because we both have personal mortgages and student loan debt.

We haven't really made the best decisions since starting this business, and we're learning as we go. I don't want us to make another mistake, especially not one that we'll have to pay for a long time. 

What are your recommendations? Should we move forward with taking out a mortgage on this house? Or should we find another way to get cash to grow our portfolio? TIA.