Financing REI after a refinance

[Becky Miller]

Hello everyone, 

I am new to BP so I will tell you a little about me first.

My father helped me purchase my rental property 5 years ago. I knew real estate was the way to go because my parents had such success, but I wasn't really educated and still got lucky. I purchased it for 100k and have a $320/month cash flow on a 15 yr loan. I am finally ready to be more active in REI.

So here is my situation.

The house needs 10k to 20k in rehab for various things over the next year or so.

I had 10k in credit card debt that I payed off last week.

I just did a cash out refi and got 42k to consolidate those debts and hopefully a down payment for my next rental. During this refi, my credit was run 3 seperate times. The first lender I ended up not wanting to work with and the next one denied my loan. The mortgage broker left that company for a new one and finally got my loan approved through the new company, after running my credit yet again. It is still in the 740 range.

I earn 40k per year

I am wondering how long I should wait to apply for another Mortgage for a 50k to 60k property in order to have the best chance at approval.