Basically, the typical," you don't know what you don't know", situation.

I'm in a unique situation (like everyone else).

In our situation, we ended up getting orders to Europe so we kept our property/VA loan and rented it out.

I am having troubles on figuring out how to effectively execute a HELOC strategy for house repairs and for future investing.heres My thoughtsCurrent situation: have an excellent rate on a mortgage at 3.625%.

@Joe Villeneuve I disagree discounted cash flow analysis doesn’t assume the owner is paying the money and is definitely valid in this situation and can factor in the complexities such as refinancing a 15 year loan to pull out equity or buying more properties.

I want to have more control over my situation, and take things into my own hands. 

We also confirmed with our mortgage broker that there is no penalty for paying down the new mortgage early, which we may do once we can assess our financial situation after closing on the Brooklyn condo.

With my tax situation (higher end of the bracket)  even though properties don't cash flow the calculated returns on the bbt.com investment property calc seem good (considering depreciation) would any of ththe pros ever invest in this scenario knowing that they can cover the negative cash flow.Thanks

Can you 'make do' (even rent an apartment etc) given your family life situation to allow you to rent your house?  

@Kevin Phu I am in the same situation with my current flip.