Need Investing Advice on Current Situation

[Felipe Salgado]

Good afternoon BiggerPockets Community!

I need help! If anyone can pitch in and throw in some advice that would be amazing. I appreciate any and all feedback.

I bought a home December of 2017 with the intention of living in it while I upgrade the property.

The property is a 3 bedroom 2 bath in Santa Ana, CA. There is also a garage that I turned into a full working studio. This is currently renting for $1200. I'm also renting out 2 bedrooms in the main house and live in the 3rd bedroom. Originally I bought the house for $475,000 which I believe to be below market price. My strategy going into this was to rehab and then using the cash-out refinance strategy to take what I can to invest in a multifamily property in an area where it is not as expensive. I do not want to sell the current property as I would like the rental income that will come from this. I've seen areas that have lots of potential and narrowing down where I'd like to move to next. I would like to have all this done by July or August of 2020. If that is not do-able then by the end of the year latest!

At the moment - I don't have all the funds available to throw in to get everything done. I have about 2k in extra income every month that I use to renovate what I can and so far everything has been going well. I was able to get the kitchen remodel financed through a friend who's helped my family remodel in the past. The owner and I have agreed on a payment plan with no interest or credit check and a set monthly payment which I will be able to pay off within 4 months. I have 2 bathrooms I need to get done. The first bathroom needs a complete surface change which will cost me about 6k. The other bathroom is one that I would like to expand in square footage to make a full bathroom. Right now it is considered a (1.75). Estimated cost would be about 25k.

Looking at comps around my area, I would say that the value of my house is anywhere from 530-550k without renovations taken into consideration. I've been in contact with the agent who helped me purchase the house and he is recommending me to cash out refinance now which would give me about 40-50k and lower my monthly payment to help cash flow. I'm debating on whether to cash out refinance now or wait until I can get all the renovations done. Biggest thing holding me back from renovation is all the upfront cash. All-in-all, I purchased this with the intention of remodeling and then using the cash-out refinance in hopes of being able to get anywhere from 80-130k to put into the next multifamily that I purchase. I've seen the area and this number seems very do-able. 

What should I do? Would it best to refinance now and take what I can or would it better to get all the renovations done now and refinance when it is all done. I'd like to put myself in a position to be able to purchase a multifamily property in Bakersfield or Texas. If anyone can share some insight that would be great. I know there's missing information but I can share that with you if you'd like. I was eager to get my foot in the door and now that I am there, I'm eager to get the ball rolling into buying my next property. I am a veteran and have not used my VA loan yet, this might help.

Thank you all for your time, I greatly appreciate the feedback.

Happy Investing!