Used a HELOC and commissions to fund the down-payment.

Should I take out max mortgage and reinvest or take out heloc or combination?

They advised since the duplex was cheap to start at 25k that it would make better sense to take out a HELOC against the property after renovations were done.

Their pitch was this:I would have to pay 2-3k in fees to get it refinanced whereas the HELOC would be free through them and that even though the HELOC would be 2-3% higher rate, it would take years to make up for what I would pay in closing costs.

My hope was to be able to take the money from the sale and put that into either BRRRR deals or maybe a larger complex, like an 8-10 unit.Today I was looking into HELOCs and don't know much about them but they seem like a viable option as a way to  not sell my property and begin to BRRRR and easily cover the cost of interest.I've currently been buying one property a year but it could take me 3-4 years to save enough to BRRRR using my own cash and want to go quicker than that. 

Live and flip without the flip, then a HELOC to pull the cash it for more deals on rentals.  

Should I anticipate any difficulty refinancing the house or getting a HELOC to take money out for my next investment property?

We plan to use a heloc/cash out refi to buy our next property while trying to stay at 50% leverage or less.

Take out a HELOC and put a down payment on another property?

Over the course of 2 years I remodeled this property and pulled a HELOC to invest in more properties.