Cash out Refi or No money out Refi…

[Eileen L.]

I'm currently refinancing my house from a VA loan at 2.75 to a Conventional at 2.865. The reason I'm even doing this is because I have enough equity to get into a Conventional with 20% equity and no PMI. I have about $40k in equity past the 20% I could take out, put into a down payment on an investment property, but not sure if that's the best direction to go. My plan was to use my VA loan entitlement (no money down/no PMI) to purchase a new primary residence and lease out my current home at about 3k a month and more than covering mortgage.The only thing about that is the homes are expensive in my area and I'll be getting a $450k+ mortgage to purchase a new home in my area. I've talked to lenders, so I would qualify to purchase in my area at a higher amount. The appreciation would more than likely be good in my area, but it's a high mortgage. Any thoughts? I could always cash out the $40k for an investment property and still do the primary residence purchase down the road, but just wondering if it would be better now than vs later with prices steadily rising.