Want to leverage my first house into multiple properties

[Adam Stiles]

Hi - I own a house in Oakland. I paid $339K. It's now valued between $750K - $850K and generates $5,700/month in rental income (pre-tax). I have a mortgage of approx. $195K. I've lived in the house 2 of last 5 years, so no capital gains if I sell.

I'm currently trying to decide between these options:

A. hold, continue renting it out, and use $100K HELOC as downpayment on another property in Oakland, or within 30 minutes.

B. 1031 exchange for a more valuable property (or multiple)

C. same as option B, + use some cash from the sale to invest elsewhere

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Adam