Sell vs. Hold vs. Cash out Refi

[John Lusk]

First post on BE so hoping this 'test' provide some interesting answers.

I have a property in Austin, TX (78704) that's generating 8% CAC returns.  I've had the property for 9 years and it's appreciated 75% since 2006.  The market is 'bubble hot' in that zip code at the moment, with 0 inventory and multiple competing offers for every listing.  I can tweak a few things and get my CAC to 10% in the next couple of months (refi, rent increase). 

Should I hold on to this property or take advantage of this ridiculously hot market, sell, and take my gains (of which I would do everything I could to minimize the tax hit)?

After going through a number of BP podcasts and posts, I figure I have 4 options:

• Hold for the long term.  Continue enjoying nice returns, principal accumulation, debt reduction and accept that I'min a great market that's not likely to go drastically South anytime soon.
• Sell and Reinvest:  Realize quadrupling your initial equity investment is damn good, take advantage of this market and invest in a bigger property, ideally through a 1031 (note: I don't have anything lined up yet so pulling off a 1031, especially in my current market of Seattle, might be tough).
• Hold, Cash-Out Refi: Refi the property at a lower rate and take out some cash to us for future real estate investments that my wife and I plan to make in the next 3-6 months.
• Hold, obtain a HELOC: See if I can get a HELOC lined up so that we can access funds when needed...although I have no idea how interest rates here would compare to the cash-our Refi

1. I know that I'm hitting on some general, differing philosophies of RE investing, but curious to know if folks out there have some opinions?

John

[Ron Shepherd]

it depends on your tax rate.  If you don't have a high income, you may not pay much tax on the gain so it may be worth selling and paying a little tax so you can take all of the depreciation on the new property.  Cash out refi's are always good.  Only do a 1031 exchange if the new property is a better deal, not just to defer taxes.