Advise on how to grow my real estate portfolio.

[Luis Castellannos]

Hello BiggerPoeckets, my name is Luis Castellanos from Chicago, IL and I'm new to BP. In 2014, while transitioning from the military, I decided it was a great idea (without any knowledge and/or experience in real estate) to use VA loan benefits to purchase a multi-family property, which I house hacked (live in one unit, collect rent on the other two units). Fast-forward to today, it has proven to be the best decision I've made in my life. The neighborhood where I bought has become one of the trendiest in the city, and I've built a healthy equity on my property. I would like to ask fellow BP members for ideas on how to approach my next move. Some of the things I've thought about are:

• 1)Sell my current property, collect the equity, use VA loan benefits to purchase another similar deal, and use the equity to finance more deals.
• 2)Cash-out refinance and use the money to finance another deal and keep current property.
• 3)Take out a HELOC to finance my next deal and keep current property.

I’m leaning towards number one, however, I open to other ideas. Thank you all in advance, I love BP and I appreciate everyone’s help.