HELOC vs Taking money out of the stock market

[Tom Stevenson]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to real estate and could really use some guidance. I currently own my home I live in (not paid off) and have one rental property that’s fully paid off thats profiting about 1k a month. I also have about $200k invested in the stock market (not retirement account).

I’m looking to buy my next investment property to grow my portfolio. I’ve heard about home equity loans and HELOCs, but I want to keep my money in the stock market to maintain some diversification.

My question is: would it be wise to take out a home equity loan for the full $200k to keep my stock investments active? Or should I consider withdrawing smaller amounts, like $100k?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[John Morgan]

@Tom Stevenson

I did a HELOC to get my first two properties. Then paid it off asap. So I'm a fan of using a HELOC to snag properties. Then I realized having 2 paid off rentals was the dumbest thing I could do financially. lol. So I used that equity and leveraged up. My cash flow went from only $1500/month with 2 paid off properties to 19k/month with 29 properties leveraged. Refi til you die!