I would recommend you get a HELOC based on your $125K in equity and use that to make down payments on investment property or to make cash offers and then refinance.But get educated first!

Soon to be on the market and has approx. 80k in Equity.

You can then use it to invest in equities as well as alternative assets.

But I would be willing to use our newly acquired rental that has 170k in equity with no loan against it.

Saj and I have created hundreds of thousands in equity on each of our purchases within months. 

I own my house in SoCal with a good amount in equity, and I receive $1,500/month in rental income from a studio apartment.

We're currently in the midst of refinancing the property and just got the appraisal report back.With the amount of the mortgage we've paid down in three years, and the increased property value from the renovations we've performed, we now have over $200k in equity in the building. 

So in theory if I start an LLC with a partner and provide $62,500 in equity and my partner provides $187,500 in equity then we are in the position to put 25% down (250k) on a $1,000,0000 apartment building, where I (the individual who put down only $62,500 is the only one required to personally guarantee the $750,000 note.

It makes it much more useful for me.I have about $50k+ in equity in my current property, but cannot access it via HELOC due to debt to income ratios.  

For example, home I am interested in purchasing is priced at 330K, the appraised value is 580K, is there any bank that will let me do a first mortgage for the 330K and then pull out the difference in equity at the same time?