Sell Personal Residence to buy Rentals or wait and save?

Question

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post, but I have been here and there reading other forum posts and books educating myself on real estate investing. I was hoping to get your opinion on my current situation.

I live in Los Angeles, CA right near the coast. I bought my 1br 1ba (~800sq ft)  apartment in July of 2019. I put down roughly 20% on a 435k property and it is my primary residence. At the time of the purchase I was interested in real estate but was not quite hooked yet. Over the past year or so my interest has skyrocketed.

I currently work as a tax consultant with an emphasis in real estate. I making decent money which covers all of my associated expenses however I have recently become quite unhappy with my job and more and more interested in real estate. Coming out of college, I didn't really know which career path I wanted to pursue, but as time goes on, real estate becomes more and more like the right path me.

As of right now I have roughly 30k in liquidity in which I can put towards an investment, preferably out of state due to the high costs of entry in the CA. However, I would like to have more liquidity before I dive into a deal. Although, I could potentially try and raise cash from outside investors, I would like to do the first deal on my own since I know there is a lot to learn. I plan to implement the BRRRR strategy with a few tax tweaks of my own that I have learned on the job.

So my current dilemma is whether or not I should look into selling my personal residence, and use those proceeds to start my investing career off or stay where I am out, continue paying down the loan and gaining equity, slowly save enough to buy an investment property. I estimate that it may take me well over another year before I will have enough cash to start buy my first property.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Corey Layman · Answer

Hey Rachel,

I assume it will take quite a while before I can commit to the career change of real estate, so it’s more about getting the ball rolling. I feel like at the moment I’m a stagnant position, so I wanted to see if I could possibly use my one main asset to help get going. You are completely right about being lucky to get a property where I am. That’s weighing a lot on the decision. I liked the idea of a refinance or looking into a HELOC, so I may try that route and see what the options are.

Thank you for the reply!

Rachel S. · Answer

If you have managed to buy a property in Los Angeles (especially by the beach), you have already overcome a big hurdle. One that is out of many people's reach. If you can comfortably afford it, I would hold onto it and save for your out of state investments. I don't think that right now is a great time to sell in the LA area either.

I get being unhappy with your job, but I am not sure that out of state investments would generate enough income to replace that quickly enough for you to view it as a career change...

Corey Layman · Answer

Hey Jon,

I have not looked into a HELOC yet, but that is a good idea. I thought about getting my property re-appraised to see if i could possibly refinance if my LTV was under 80%. However,my apartment needs a few improvements first and that would require some of my cash. I thought about trying to remodel certain my closet and storage areas without hired help to cut the costs, but I am not quite sure if that would even improve its value. This is an area I am still trying to get a basic understanding on. I know CA places an emphasis on square footage when it comes to appraised value, but I don't know the effects of small things like closet remodels.

That is a good point regarding possible appreciation, but I also see the problem with how much appreciation we will see in the coming year for multiple reasons. LA property values are extremely high right now, CA has had large expenses recently and I think they may modify the rule regarding property tax increases of 1% to cover these costs, and there has been a large migration out of CA due to its policies, prices, etc...

I appreciate your reply and advice as I will definitely looking HELOC's.

Jon Schwartz · Answer

Corey, have you looked into opening a HELOC on your condo? I have a duplex in Hollywood and recently opened a HELOC on it for the liquidity. I called around to a lot of regional banks and credit unions before going with a national bank that had the lowest rate. Some banks offered 90% combined LTV. This would be a great way to access some/most of your equity without letting go of the property.

My gut says that, if you're PITI+HOA next to the coast is under $2200, you should hold onto it. LA's longterm property apprecaition rate is 4.7%; you'll be making tens of thousands per year in equity while you hold.

The only caveat to my thinking is this wildly strange moment we're in. Home prices are high, and I think they'll soften up over the next year as forbearances end and owners are forced to sell (not enough owners are underwater to force mass foreclosures, but even a wave of sales will lead to lower prices). Also, it's probably a good time to sign a new lease in LA!

Still, my gut says don't sell... Tough one, buddy!