House Hack or Buy an investment property?

[William Craft]

I am a new Investor who wants to make the right choice in my first investment move and I have two options that have me torn. I am either thinking about selling my current home that has about $60K of equity in it and move into a large duplex, or do a cash out refinance to fund and investment property. I have about $30K of cash ready to use to support. I’ve example my thought process for both below:

1. Sell and build Duplex: my wife and I have been talking and the only way that she would be comfortable with this option is if our side of the duplex is a 4-2 with a larger kitchen, cause she loves our current home so much. The difficulties of that are the logistics of the transactions, the waiting period for the home being built and our ability to get approved for such a large investment. The benefits are free living and an ability to fund additional deals quicker.

2. Refi with Investment Property: this option is good if the right deal comes along, but won’t bolster my cash flow or my timeline to reach my goals. Ultimately this option would require similar amounts of upfront cash with not as much risk or up front benefit.

My ultimate goal is to have 5-7 properties in the next 10 years to “retire” from my 9-5 and manage my properties / have a food truck. :) Please help me understand which option you would choose and why!