I have $1,000 in saving and every bit of my extra money goes to the debt snowball.

These have generally been easy to do in part because interest rates kept getting lower, so there was benefit to refinancing even if you didn't want cash out.As interest rates creep up, the benefits of using HELOCs rather than refinances to tap new equity will grow, because investors won't want to increase the interest rates on their existing debt.

That's why investing 5% in an owner-occupied home is such an awesome deal (even with slightly higher interest, PMI).As you amortize this debt over time, this seriously hurts your return compared to a normal investment in the stock market, because your equity % is going higher and higher.

Although only contributing 20% of the equity, I am more than capable of guaranteeing the full amount of debt. 

The main items ypu want to focus on now when running your calculator is the debt service (mortgage), taxes, insurance, maintenance, Capex (if property is in excellent shape and doesnt need any major improvements then this figure does not need to be quite 10%), vacancy (talk to PM), landlord required utilities (if any), lawn care snow removal (if applicable).

Unless you have a deal in the works, need cash fast, have other debts, or have fears about the market a conventional cash-out ReFi is the optimal choice.

If you want to keep your money, then buy well located, cash flowing assets with good debt and excellent management and don't buy on the hype. 

Your tenants are paying the debt payment, so if the place cash flows either way then it won't matter that much in the long run. 

Debt on home is 250k and property appraised approx 800k. 2 sons lived with him at property and sounds like they don’t work.

Long story short: credit score is around 760, about $20k gifted for down payment use only, and about $12000 in debt at an avg of 6.44%, which I'm actively working to pay off more than the min.