Got my first house hack now what?

[Anders Nordberg]

So I recently bought a single family made it a duplex with the city and now am living in one side and renting out the bigger side. The mortgage is 1710 and the rent is 1875 so covers the mortgage but obviously there cap ex and other expenses which I occur. After I get my rent and W2 income and subtract out the expenses on average I save about 1500 per month. I want to buy my next house hack but feel like I need to get on it soon since I have been living in my house hack from June 2020 till now. I have 6k saved in my house fund and got my house appraised for higher and got approved for a heloc of 45k. I am wondering if I should use the heloc for most of the down payment for the next and then refi out to pay it off. Which is risky but I could do soon. I do the safe way and just slog it out and save the money needed but it could take up to 2 years at 1500 a month. What do you all think? Should I do a more risky strategy or wait and miss out on potential gains?