Listen to James, he has it right on the money.The only thing to add is that the size of your sphere of influence matters a lot when you're starting out.

Also be aware that the HELOC payment will add debt to your DTI which could influence qualifying for future mortgages.

For example some decisions are massively influenced by luck and others are not.

Proper capitalization and reserves is the corner stone of real estate investing.the refi till you die while a good strategy to scale needs to be tempered with fiscal realities if you do hit a bump in the road or like Russ is talking about a brick wall at 100 mph.. this is not about those that will get the Virus this is about those that work in industries  that are being shut down.. some will get paid regardless others will get help from various sources but others will have no choice but to either buy food and medicine or pay rent. 

Imo, it really is the journey and not the destination and I'd trade it all to be able to do it again (I'd have to be young again though - no deal on just starting over as of right now)  haha.Good luck and please update this thread with your decision as I'm sure your logic will help influence my own.

I'd rather be fiscally sound, with a large net worth, then to not be able to sleep at night because I'm leveraged.   

The idea is not to rock someones fiscal boat and avoid needless turnover.

Maybe you are better at finding deals, influencing people or networking.

Where you advertize can influence who you get as a tenant, you can say it has easy access to highways and other things that suggest it is good for commuters (if that is who you want).

@Armand Soto - unless he was driving a house while under the influence, not sure how that affects being a tenant.