This can also bolster your case if the tenants continue to act in bad faith.

If you can pay off the HELOC quickly, that is not bad way to go. 

They pay rent before the due date, clean the property after every client, and if something breaks they usually repair it before I'm aware because their clients will give them bad ratings.

When you have multiple responsible adults sharing a house, if one "bad egg" slips in then you have the others renters to kick them out or report them.

When you have multiple responsible adults sharing a house, if one "bad egg" slips in then you have the others renters to kick them out or report them. 

Additionally, while rates aren't historically bad right now, they are higher than 4-5 years ago, and they will be even higher for you as an investor than they were as an owner occupant, which is what you were when you bought originally.I get that you are anxious to add to your portfolio, but that could be achieved without touching your first golden goose.Sometimes on BP, the push is to leverage every last spare penny, but that can be a risky game as the markets shift. 

Why do you say its bad for the original owner long term?

The bad news is the LTV is 95% currently, and after a $4 million paydown it's still 88.6%. 

$150/mo - $300/mo is bad or good cash flow depending on how much cash you put into the deal.$150 x 12 months = $1,800If you put $45,000 into real estate as a down payment, you are looking at a 4% cash on cash return.I would consider this decent.If you put $20,000 into the deal, the cash on cash return is higher and its better.If you put $200,000 into the deal, the cash on cash return is lower and considered worse.However, cash on cash return is not the only return you should consider, you should also consider appreciation.My benchmark is trying to achieve atleast an 8% return between appreciation and cash flow.Best of luck!

They tend to go after rookie investors and have seen to many in my network that have purchased "bad deals" and are in a bind with NW deals.