Strategy to obtain 2nd rental & rid of cc debt

[Josh Hollman]

Hello all, good day! May I have suggestions with my scenario. Was out of work for 9 months and also during that time my father had passed. I accumulated about 50k in bills/expenses on cards during that time and another 50k doing renovation on both rental property and my primary residence. So 100k cc debt total mostly to cover expenses while out of work one-time. Rental property valued roughly 370k, I owe 160k and a 40k balloon on it. Costs 1500/mth, 2.99 fixed, and rents for 2500/mth. The rental was primary residence for 10years and I've been out of it for 3.5 years. It is also in my name and not a LLC. Primary residence I owe 460k and is valued 760k. Between spouse and I our jobs pull 200k/year. My goal is to obtain another rental property, possibly try anirbnb, and also eliminate the cc debt if possible. I'm unsure if HEL or HELOC or selling the rental, doing 0% balance transfers makes more sense, or a combination. I've been wasting money paying minimums on everything while I sort this out. Unsure how market will play out with elections. I'm frustrated and getting mixed suggestions from family/friends who think they are experts with no skin in the game. I thought I'd reach out here to course correct myself by following what successful BP investors are doing. Thankyou for your time!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Josh Hollman:

Equity loans or lines of credit are just another means of borrowing. It's not free money. You still pay interest on it like any other loan, so it's a bad idea. People didn't care so much when interest rates were 2.5% but it's a big deal when interest rates are higher.

A man in debt is a slave. Anyone that tells you to remain in debt is a fool. It's foolish to play semantics by shuffling numbers and claiming the income from your rental offsets your debt payment or anything of that nature.

Sell the rental property. Pay off the debt. You will be debt-free, financially stable, with $50k in the bank. Then you can consider investing from a solid foundation instead of shifting sand.