The only advantage by calling it a second home from a lending perspective is that you can put only 10% down on a second vs 15% for an investment property.

It gave me some good perspective, Inspiring! 

I need your investor's perspective because I've been discouraged by homeowners. 

You will meet people from different walks of life that will give you different perspectives. 

I am happy that you have learnt so much from the Groves, but it has to be put into perspective, as you said that you have been a real estate investor since 2002. 

We chose HELOC instead of refi because we didn't want the rates to change (we got the first property during those golden days of 3% interest).I just recommend making sure the HELOC payment makes sense from a numbers perspective—consider the interest as another "expense" when you're calculating cash flow.

All the best  That sounds like a great deal, at least from a cash flow perspective

You will meet people from different walks of life that will give you different perspectives on real estate investing.

There are a few good pockets in Hamilton to invest, but there are a lot of areas to try to stay away from at least from an appreciation perspective. 

What's your perspective and why?