Starting in Real Estate

[John Apricena]

Hi Everyone,

My name is JJ Apricena and not to sound creepy, but I've been I've been lurking around the Bigger Pockets forum for months and really love reading everyone's insights into Real Estate. I've read a few of a Brandon's Books and love the weekly podcasts. This site is truly amazing. I've wanted to get into real estate investing for the past few months, so I've just been getting my hands on any material I could and listening to everyone and everything possible.

I currently own a single family home that I bought via a conventional with 20% down home before I learned about other facets of real estate and now I find myself wanting to invest in more properties, but lack the funds since they are tied up in my current home. My question is what are my options here with regards to getting that 20% cash back?

Would it be wise to refinance to FHA and pull back some of my 20% without being scarred with costs to do so? Or is there a more efficient way to do this?

My current property could rent for about $800 more than the mortgage, so could it make sense to go down this avenue and purchase a different house to live in via FHA while my current home is rented to a tenant?

Any and all advice is appreciated and much thanks in advance. I look forward to my future on this website and hope to one day be able to provide others with similar advice that I currently seek.