Cash flowing Rental property

[Keren Adaki]

Hello out there,

I am a mother of 3 young children and I am consumed with wanting to secure a good financial future for them. We currently own our home and have some equity in it. We are still drowning in ny daycare costs (over 3k/monthly) which is more then my mortgage. I nevertheless have managed to save some cash and in the next two years want to make a move in real estate. We definitely need a bigger house as we had no children when we purchased our current home (small ranch). My question is this, should I keep my current home and keep it as a rental property? Should I get a heloc loan for the down payment of our bigger home? Or should I wait to save more money so I don’t have to use a heloc? Pros and cons on heloc would be very appreciated. Also thinking of buying a vacation home in Florida and renting it out. With 3 kids my risk tolerance is low but high at once. Don’t want to make a financial mistake as my kids depend on me but also understand that not making a move is riskier. Any advice on starting out would really be appreciated.

[Nathan Gesner]

This first step is to stand back and look at your home with objective eyes. If it were on the market today, would it make a good investment property?

In my experience, primary homes are purchased for different reasons than investments and therefore the numbers just don't work. You may be better off cashing out the equity and using that equity to purchase a multi-family or something that is going to get a better return.