Cap gains on the balance of profit.Mark

Fresh and new is the name of the game for the remaining $$, making as many changes that you can do for the balance.

@James Miller in Florida, it is .7% of the mortgage balance.

If you take out more than the balance of the credit cards, you will now be paying 7% (+ or -) annually on money to buy properties that yield more than 7%. 

How should you go about balancing between affordable and enough to cover repairs/cleaning?

That said, the HELOC can be frozen at its current balance if the value of the HELOC drops materially.

On the flip side, I don't believe in timing the market and I love real estate, so I don't want to miss opportunities to grow my real estate business.Anybody that was heavily hit by the last recession that could offer thoughts on the right balance between leverage and risk during good times?

I personally wouldn't take on any new builds in this market, but that's me.We won't crash, but as the market balances out, things will be harder to sell.  

Rent- 2500Current mortgage balance 275k @ 4.25Current monthly cost PITI - 1425

Try to build in some sort of checks and balances that enable you to lead with trust but also have a way to verify.