Looking to grow our portfolio and be self-employed...again

[Junaid Khan]

Hello All!

My wife and I own two single family homes next door to one another.  One we rent out, the other we live in.  We have equity in both properties and need help figuring out the best way to leverage that equity into additional properties.  We are open to renting out our primary residence, and renting an apartment ourselves, if that helps anything.  We miss the amenities of apartment living and realized our family does not need as much space as we have. I have outlined some details below and would appreciate any insight.

Our background:  We flipped properties from 2018-2022 and are still licensed general contractors and real estate agents, but have not been very active in either the last two years as we both took W2 jobs in 2022.  We are wanting to get back to being self-employed but are at a loss for what steps to take next.  We were both laid off over the last couple of months and would prefer not to go back to Corporate America.  PLEASE HELP!

Primary - 4bed/2bath, 2200SF, 3car attached, 1/2acre lot

Mortgage = $330k, Payment = $2100 PITI, Value = $450-475k

Rental - 4bed/2bath, 1600SF, 2car detached, 1/2acre lot

Mortgage = $190k, Payment = $1600 PITI, Rent = $2100/mo, Value = $330-350k

-Market rent is closer to $2500, but we kept the rent low to help the family that lives there.