Have equity in a home and not sure whether to sell or hold onto.

[Drew Hunter]

Hey everyone, 

This is my first time posting on here. I have been reading some books and looking to invest more of my money into real estate in the coming years. Long story short, I came into some money from my work a few years ago and bought a house in Boulder, CO when I was really young. I got married this past year and bought another home in Longmont (15 minutes from Boulder.) I am now renting out the Boulder home. I really want to start getting into more rentals or short term stuff (have done airbnb successfully in the past.) My wife and I have a baby so I have become more conservative and don't want to spend cash I have saved on real estate at the moment. However, my current Boulder home has roughly 700-800k in equity and was wondering what people in my situation would suggest doing. My goal would be to have enough rentals where my wife doesn't have to go back to work. I think there is a situation where this could only be 3-5 rentals and something we could both manage. I would love any thoughts from other people who have done something like this.