noobie from Utah seeking advice

[Allan Anderton]

hello I am new to BP I have listened to every podcast:) I do have a question though I have my home now of about 2 years sadly I didn't think ahead to buy a duplex... and am working on getting my down payment for my first rental. I have "I would guess" 50k equity in my house probably closer to 70k here is my concerns that maybe some of you much more advanced people could help me with please. my first fear is I have my normal mortgage and IF I take the equity out basically it creates a second mortgage with a HELOC and using that to get my rental property... BUT my wife's fears are WHAT IF a tenant moves out then I would have 2 mortgages and a HELOC to pay for how did some of you get past this fear? is there things maybe some of you have come across that me being a noob haven't thought of I just want to be as logical with my first property as I can. I believe the first rental is the risk after that your feet are already wet so to speak any help would be great thanks in advance

[Chris Ramos]

Howdy

Have you considered turning your home into your first rental and then buying another home to occupy?

You've lived there almost two years so getting another fha loan shouldn't be an issue, less expensive for the down, etc.. 

I'd run the numbers on you're own home and see what kind of a return you would get and then make that the benchmark when looking at other opportunities on the market. Just make sure you factor in all of the same expenses when figuring out your ROI. The market here is tough to get much of a return out right now.

Good Luck!