To refi or not to refi

[Dakota Cochran]

So I’ve decided I’m gonna purchase another home and make my first home a rental. I have a family friend that’s a mortgage guy and I cant tell if he is in my best interest or just sees $$$.
I was thinking cash flow is king so maybe just a rate and term then he mention I should cash out because the house value is up. I wasn’t sure if he would make more if I cash out or not? Is he in my best interest?

Basic info:

I owe 150k , monthly 1300

Going rent is 1800-2000

Interest rate is fixed at 6.5%

Just now able to refi do to self employment status.

so do I have something worth doing? Is my mortgage guy helping or hurting? rate and term, cash out, or leave it be? 

new to bigger pockets, new to Real estate. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks, dakota

[Salvatore Lentini]

@Dakota Cochran - there are 2 different schools of thought on cashflow, equity, LTV. Some like to pay off their debt as quickly as possible, others like to leverage as much as possible and then there are those in between that leverage but not to the max. I personally believe in that last strategy. I leverage my properties so that they still cashflow well. Not as much as they could but I don't leverage to the point of where they are break even every month. I also make sure to have a decent amount of reserves on hand for the unexpected. But, I take the cash outs to expand my portfolio. I end up with more rentals which in the end helps diversify my portfolio (property type and area) and increase my cashflow. So I would say cash out, but only if you have plans to invest that money in something else that will produce more cashflow. And make sure you don't decrease your cashflow on the 1st property so much that any little unexpected issue will cause you to go cashflow negative.