HELOC vs. Mortgage for Vacation house?

[zeldak]

DW and I are 55 years old and own a primary residence SFH valued at 900K, paid off.
We are strongly considering purchasing a second/vacation house soon, the value of which may be in the 750K-1.25M range.
We are financially independent, or very close to it.
We have 600K in cash/MM account at Vanguard.

Should we plan to take out a mortgage on the second house, or might a HELOC on our primary residence be a better option?

I am not familiar with HELOC fees, requirements, rates, or hidden problems. In other words I don't know what I don't know.

Can anyone offer any advice?

[AnnieK]

If the expenses of the new house put you back into itemized deduction territory, you will want a first mortgage on the new house. This quote is from the Schedule A instructions: "You can only deduct home mortgage interest to the extent that the loan proceeds from your home mortgage are used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home securing the loan."

-AnnieK

[exodusNH]

DW and I are 55 years old and own a primary residence SFH valued at 900K, paid off.
We are strongly considering purchasing a second/vacation house soon, the value of which may be in the 750K-1.25M range.
We are financially independent, or very close to it.
We have 600K in cash/MM account at Vanguard.

Should we plan to take out a mortgage on the second house, or might a HELOC on our primary residence be a better option?

I am not familiar with HELOC fees, requirements, rates, or hidden problems. In other words I don't know what I don't know.

Can anyone offer any advice?

HELOCs are variable rate.

Since you don't currently have a mortgage on your primary home, I'm not sure why you'd just not take a mortgage on the second home so that you don't put your primary residence on the hook for the second home