Refinancing rentals to pay home of residence

[Dennis Franklin]

So I'm looking into investing in real estate. Rental properties to be specific. However I am not a home owner, because I live/work overseas. I have be researching on my own and some people say it is better to buy your own home first before looking at rental properties. Is this necessarily true? I won't be moving back to the states for at least another 4-5 years. I was thinking I could buy a few rental properties, then refinance them and collect on the equity using that cash the finance my actual home of residence. Does my idea seem plausible? Or is there a better way to go about this?