We are considering a move to Tennessee where we will be free and clear on a house after selling our home in AZ. We are planning on buying a few duplexes with our investment sales in AZ also. My question is would it be better to put down say 20 to 50% on a 30 year mortgage for the personal home in TN and use the remaing cash to buy and sell (flip) additional properties, or be free and clear on the personal home and use a home equity loan to do the same thing?

Thanks

My2/cents...I would keep all my assets free of debt. Maintain as large a cash reserve as I could and open a operating line of credit at P+0 sequred only with a personal signature. You should be able to leverage 50% of your net worth with no significant costs...no brokers, no appraisals, no points, no fees. Flow all of your cash back into reduce the line every month. We also use our low interest rate credit cards...have built $20M in value this way.

That is the right thing to do in my eyes also.