42k cash equity and first rental

[Ornella Kaneza]

Hi,

I’m a new investor and thought I would share my strategy here to see if there is any input that could help. 

A year and half ago, I bought this townhome (2bd/1.75ba in Phoenix AZ) that I have now renovated to 2bd/2ba, new floors, appliances, new backyard, new bathrooms. The area is near a school, maybe a c+. It looks like I could ask for 1600 dollars while the mortgage is only 1.1k. 
I’m moving out of state for another job, and still want to keep the property as the mortgage is low and can make At least 400 dollars on it per month. 
I talked to lenders and it seems as though I can take out 42k cash and I’m thinking about using that cash as down payment for another house in Virginia (Lorton, Woodbridge, Fairfax areas) and renovate, and house hack until I can do that again with another property.

End game for me is to get enough cash to get into foreclosures. The equity cash right now is not enough to get started yet. 

Any input on any of this strategy would help as I analyze the different avenues I could take? 

Thank you