For an extra 800/m (this is a random number)It usually isnt worth it.The investors who have the best success do the following things:1.

That would mean the extra 5k would technically come out of my pocket, right? 

With the election over and the New year approaching ,its a waiting game for that extra 1/2 or full point to come down.

Then you could house hack to make extra money for your next down payment. 

If you're 25 or 35 and that monthly rent check gives you an extra vacation a year for the rest of your life, that might be fun too.Good luck and congratulations for being in the path of progress I guess.

You're just adding an extra step/bottleneck to a process that already works really well with credit cards alone.You're literally quoting an imaginary person.

I also have worked extra hard now to verify any lender I sent client information to.    

Sales prices and mortgage rates make it really hard to find good deals today.Wholesaling sounds good, but you could make better money working extra shifts as a nurse.You could look for run-down properties as buy-and-holds.

The extra cost is typically well worth the benefit. 

. :)   I'll likely do the HELOC and not worry about the extra taxes on gains over $500k when I finally do sell someday.