Looking for suggestions on next steps

[Logan L.]

Hi all,

As the title suggests I am hoping to get some recommendations about my path forward in real estate investing from those who are more knowledgeable and experienced than myself. 

My story:

I am an active duty service-member living in the vicinity of Fort Bragg (now known as Fort Liberty). My wife and I currently own two rental properties and our primary residence.

House 1: 4 bed 3 bath. Purchased for $145k - approximate value is currently $235k. Mortgage is $920, rents for $1700

House 2: 3bed 2 bath. Purchased for 93k - current approximate value is $180k. Mortgage is $500, rents for $1,450

Between just the two rental properties we have somewhere in the neighborhood of $150-200k in equity. My wife makes around $50k per year working two days a week, I make around $100k. While I am grateful for the benefit we've already seen from real estate investing, I am wanting to scale faster and I believe utilizing our untapped equity is a good starting point. Additionally, I am pursuing a career as a CRNA to increase my income (and I'm familiar with the job and enjoy medicine). My long term REI goal is to generate $120k per year in passive income (this number is always going up to account for inflation). As I said earlier, I am just looking for your thoughts and feedback about what you see as a viable next step. I am not usually the smartest person in the room but I like listening to them and paying attention to their advice. Thanks guys!

[Jake Baker]

@Logan L.

Congrats on your success! That is really good equity and a lot of cash flow for two SFRs. 

I assume you have been using your VA loan?

You may want to consider a HELOC - If you want to flip or BRRRR. You can fund rehabs with this.