You have used home equity lines of credit to purchase investment rentals and want to know the best way to pay down the HELOCs.Between the two properties you bought, after expenses, you have $250 a month positive cashflow to use.What I like to do is pay down some principal every month with my positive cashflow.I use my extra active income from real estate commissions helping other investors to pay down the principal even more which just frees up that credit for me to use again.I know I can refinance the HELOC debt before it changes to principal and interest as it is just interest only payments as yours are.One difference is the cashflow, I have greater positive cashflow and could make the principal and interest payment in the future with the extra cashflow I already enjoy.I always get HELOCs on my income properties as well after purchasing them to pull out as much of my downpayment as possible.

So adding 2/3 equivalent properties that will have the opportunity to appreciate in the future, without mortgage, was the idea behind option 2 (+ renting out something in Seattle)

Hi Michael, Using a HELOC to fund your first rental can be a smart move, especially if you want to keep your cash on hand for other expenses or future deals.

I hope with this extra info you can see more clear my current and future goals. 

Get an attorney and get these losers out then hire a property manager to properly vet any future tenants! 

They are about to move out and I’m nervous to rent to a stranger in the future with this same policy.

There is some future Infrastructure improvements taking place, which can/cannot impact the property ROI. 

I was in a leased building, counting on a hand-shake deal to buy the property in the future.

Best of luck on your real estate future, it's been a fun adventure for me!

I may look at out-of-state investing in the future, but I think good deals can be found locally (which I think you acknowledged).