New investor. Looking to use move

[Clint Koehn]

Hello all, new to the forum after getting hooked to the podcasts over the last three months thanks to a coworker/bigger pockets member. I'm in a bit of a pickle and wondering what your opinions are on how to start out. My wife and I are expecting our first soon but I still want to get into REI through single family rental properties. Problem is, we are wanting to step up to a larger home with the new addition on the way and trying to see if there's a good middle ground where we can do both. My main question is: would it be ill advised to cash out refinance our current home for a down payment on the new home and keep the refinanced property as our first rental? I like this idea as we can cash out and end up with a lower payment if we extend the term as we started with a 15yr mortgage on the Ramsey plan. As I've learned, I have become more comfortable with using debt as a tool so it seems logical to me. I don't want to cash in all of my investments and I want to have ample cash reserves if I get into real estate. Financials below: Current home: Purchased: 110,000 Est. value: 155,000 Mortgage balance: 70,000 Mortgage terms: 15 yrs - 12 yrs remaining Liquid assets: Cash: 65,000 Other inv: 65,000 New home max target: 280,000 I know many would say buckle down and suck it up in the current home and buy even more properties, but we really want more space with the changes coming.