Q: Should I rent out my own house or sell it?

[Glenn English]

I'm sort of a newbie. I joined BP about 3 years ago when I did my first (and only flip so far), but I haven't really been active since then. And I'm looking to get back into investing. However, I was laid off from my software sales job a few months ago and during the last couple of months, I've realized I do not want to go back to working for someone else - especially an inside sales job sitting in a cube all day dialing for dollars! 

I'm now in the process of getting my real estate license to become an agent. I know there' still some dialing for dollars involved, but eventually I want to get back into house flipping and I think having my RE license will help me down the road. 

Now obviously it will be tough for me to get a bank loan and fund my flips without a job. However I do have a good amount of equity I could get from selling my own home. I could get roughly $350K cash from a sale based on what I owe on the mortgage and what the homes are going for in my area. The other thought is, should I just keep the home and rent it out? I think I could get about $2500 per month, which should net me about $800-900 each month after expenses (taxes, mortgage, insurance and maintenance). I could move in with a friend while I start investing again and get my real estate career up and running. Any thoughts or advice? Should I take a huge risk and go all in by selling my house, or should I rent out my house and collect the $800-900 per month while I get my real estate career going....??

-Glenn

[Jordan Grimstad]

Possible third option - could you refinance to pull some of the equity out of the home and rent it out? That way you get a nice cash infusion but don't lose a moneymaking asset.

Generally speaking, though, it seems to make more sense in this situation to keep the house & rent it out to keep a steady stream of cash coming in. How long would it take you to save for your first flip if you were sticking with just the rental cashflow? How are you thinking about partnership opportunities?