Need some advice or thoughts about using current home as a rental

[Stephanie Barton]

My husband and I are looking to get started in investing in real estate and are considering many different ways to come up with the cash.  I have been racking my brain on how to use our current home to our advantage.  We live in a 2 story almost 2000 square feet home that has a pool.  I have been updating this house recently with paint and fixtures with the idea that we would just try to sell it.  But the more I learn, I am now considering using it as a rental property.  We refinanced our house several years ago to decrease the length of our loan to 15 years which increased our monthly payment a little but has allowed us to make faster gains toward the pay off.  We recently met with a real estate agent that helps other investors in our area and informed that there is a large rental market here.  My idea is that we rent our current home while maintaining the management of the pool and lawn so the tenant does not have to worry about the added cost, but maybe adjust our rent to account a bit for that amenity, and then buy another property that we will live in for a bit in order to update and get ready for rental as well.  I'm just needing some thoughts from the experts in the forum.  I'm also going to run some numbers to see what our monthly payment on a current house would be if we refinanced and placed on a 30 year mortgage and how much equity we would be able to pull out of it for another investment.  Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.  Love bigger pockets, am learning so much here.