Using equity to purchase house hack

[Matthew Jackson]

My Wife and I purchased our home in Charlotte NC last year for $147,000. We bought it in rough shape and have since then replaced all the flooring, put in new Kitchen cabinets and countertops and painted the whole place. Similar comps in our area are $170-175K. 

Our plan in the near future is to purchase a small residential multifamily home (in either Charlotte NC or Asheville NC) and do a traditional house hack. What I want to know, what is the best way to take out our equity in order to purchase a multifamily residence? HELOC? Cash out refinance? Our plan is to also keep the home we are in and rent it out.

I have been looking into HELOC's and Cash out refinances a little but feel I need an experienced investor to help me out a little with options on what they think is best and how I should go about doing this?

All replies are appreciated! I am brand new to Bigger Pockets and REI. I have read a fair few books on the topic now and am trying to get creative in order to start building my portfolio.