First investment property

[Luis Alvarado]

My wife and I are looking to get our first investment property. We currently own a single family home in Bella Vista, AR which is our primary residence. We refinanced last year (Apr 2021) out of a USDA RD loan from 2017 at 4.25% to a conventional loan at 2.75%. We also have access to a HELOC of $52k on our primary residence.

We are open to moving into another fixer upper and turning our current home into a short term rental, long term rental, or selling if that's what makes most sense. Our current home could probably use $8-12k in work should we look to turn it into a long term rental or i'm thinking $12-16k to turn it into a short term rental or sell it. We've also considered staying in our current home, holding back on doing the improvements on it since we're living in it and could go without the improvements and just put that money into just buying an 2-3 bedroom SFR investment property.

The HELOC is there in case we need it for repairs or downpayment on a property. Looking for suggestions from more experienced individuals as this will my our first REI move. Thanks in advance!

Current Loan -Primary Residence

ARV: $325,000

Current Principal Balance: $154,130.19

Mortgage Payment (Monthly): $648

POA (Monthly): $37

Annual Taxes & Insurance (Annually): ~$3,000

Loan Type: Conventional

Remaining Term (Years): 28.5

Interest Rate: 2.75%

[Nate Sanow]

Personally I'd use the HELOC to brrr, flip, anything that increases liquidity. Right now your primary residence is a gold mine, and will likely only do better over time. I'm a fan of the vibe in NWA… if you move out, to rent out, you might forfeit the capital gains exemption.

Also, sounds like you are looking at it like you can park that money somewhere else via a down payment which is fine, but also sounds like your liquidity is connected largely to the equity / HELOC from the primary, if that's true, focus on liquidity growth, not getting it tied up in the name of "equity."

Might be personal perspective but I see capital at its best when it’s a river flowing  and growing not a pond hoping for more rain. In other words, put the capital to work in a way that has probable and immediate growth ahead. 

Best wishes to your success.