3c, there are so many variables at play.... My way may not be the right way. Why??? I don't know your loan amount of existing investment prop, I don't know rental amount, I don't know your age (loan tenure at play), I don't know your income - tdsr @ play here. So only u know best... Please don't reveal here hor...
Ok, my way
1. I will not pay up for investment property loan... Why? For my case, I can find instruments that can beat interest rate easily... So why pay up??? But to achieve that, I have lost quite a fair bit of money during the learning stages...
2. When times are bad, cash is king... Nothing else matters... U can get great bargains during such times
3. Your income will determine your loan quantum
4. If your investment property can get rental which can cover your mortgage, why pay up??? Your spare cash can be used to generate better interest right... Give example... Loan amount 500k. Current interest 1%. You put into bonds, 250k @ 4%. You are still better off right??? You can keep the 250k in cash... D your own computation to get what I am talking about... The interest earned from bonds and fd is better than the interest from the loan.... If interest rate goes up to 4%, bonds should hit 7% or more to make it attractive and fd will hit 3%.
5. When to buy is an art... You really must read and understand the economy and the cycle... A clue is - stocks are forward looking...
6. Open your eyes, there are many other instruments but dabble a bit first but u must be prepared to pay tuition fee.
7. Always know your goal... Accumulation or preservation mode???
8. Do your sums for worst case scenario and keep some cash for loss of job or etc...
The list goes on...
This time, I am going hibernation for awhile because I am starting my traveling again and rev up the biz...
Cheers... This is just a rough guide... Use what you think fits your profile, modify, add, subtract and come up with a plan u are comfortable with...
Hope this helps...