I am looking into purchasing a second (vacation) home and would love to hear your thought on the pros and cons of going a conventional 30-year second mortgage vs. using a HELOC or Home Equity Loan on my Primary Residence to purchase the second home outright. 

Hi NidaI am very spectacle that the purchase prices you mention are anywhere but war zones.Most worth considering will start at $100K with rehab necessary.Please bewareBest Mike

Purchase price: $115,000 Cash invested: $42,000 Sale price: $168,000 Unfortunately, we bought this property as a buy and hold property, and our research led us to believe that this neighborhood was up and coming not in a bad area of Jacksonville.

I have used HELOCs for probably most of the purchases of the properties I own. 

The purchaser of the property, sometimes the foreclosure rescue artist, is now free to refinance the property or to sell the property to another party.

Quote from @Cody Lewis: My wife and I recently purchased our first STR.

Hi everyone,I'm in the process of purchasing a 5-bed, 3-bath home in Hesperia, CA, and I plan to rent it out by the room.

Purchase price: $925,000 Cash invested: $75,000 Sale price: $1,190,000 Bought and styled and managed a luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale.

We've essentially ruled out investing in our local community because we can't seem to find a good deal (we live about 1.5 hours north of NYC, so purchase prices are very high), so we are considering (1) investing out of state; or (2) investing in some northern NY localities (Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, etc.). 

I live in NJ but am looking to purchase an investment property in NY State.