Advice for beginner on purchasing 2nd home

[Pedro Gutierrez]

Hello! 

What advice might you have for a first time home owner who wants to rent out his house in AZ and use a HELOC to buy a new primary home in the Midwest?

 Context:

1.) My wife and I would love to experience a place less hot than Arizona to enjoy the outdoors.

2.) We want to start building wealth by acquiring rental properties (1st Gen Latinos so we are wanting to build wealth from nothing). 

Questions I have about making this happen:

- should I put my house up for rent before buying a house out of state, to see how fast I can gain attention from prospective tenants? Or wait until I find a house to buy then start once I win a bid?

- Do house values in the Midwest increase like they do in AZ? I couldn’t do the “1% rule” right away with a house in the Midwest so I’m thinking I would have to wait at least a couple of years before I could make a profit on renting in terms of the home value. 

Not sure if I’m asking the right questions. I value everyone’s expertise and experience here and look forward to learning more about building wealth with real estate! Thanks for reading. 

[Jared Hottle]

I think the first thing I would do is connect with local banks in the area you are wanting to move to in the Midwest. Tell them your plan and fill out their applications and see if you can afford to buy while still owning your house in AZ without rent. This will give you the most information possible. I do not think I would put it up for rent at least until you are under contract with a home in the Midwest. As far as the Midwest goes. Home values likely will not increase like the AZ market but they have increased. You are still going to get a nice deal if you work at it and know what you want and are aggressive when you see it. If you come to Iowa would love to help!