Aggressively Pay Off Current Home Mortgage or Invest in Rental Pr

[Katie Cole]

We bought our first home two years ago ($250k w FHA loan - we have almost 20% equity) just as a place to live, we love the house and the area and plan to use it as a rental property after we move in 5 to 7 years. However, recently realized our desire to grow a real estate portfolio of single or multi-family homes. We are looking to buy a single family or a duplex home at the beginning of 2021 and are wondering does it make sense to buy another home even though our current home is not paid off? Should we pay off our mortgage more aggressively or continue paying it above the minimum payment and pursue a rental property to invest in.

Also - not sure if this is worth mentioning but my fiance and I both have stable jobs and my fiance recently got a pretty hefty raise and has a side business that generates a good amount of income so we will have cash to play with. I also work for a small business where I don't have a 401k match so I am pursuing other investments instead of a traditional 401k and I hope to be able to quit my job in 2-3 years and have a baby while my husband holds down the majority of the finances, but definitely want something to generate my portion of income and stay busy/happy.

Thanks so much - any insight is sincerely appreciated.