Raleigh area real estate hopscotch... HELP!

[Doel Gonzalez]

Hello BP,

I am putting in bold the "gist"

I am in the process or preparing my house to be sold so I can move into something a bit smaller (i.e. investor friendly) and buy 2 more properties this year...

I'll elaborate:

I used to live in Cary, NC, the most desired town in the Raleigh-Durham area (for the most part) and moved to a Knightdale SFR to reduce my mortgage costs (Cary is super expensive) and because I had a gut feeling it would be a boomtown soon, and it has been. Granted I've only lived here two years and the developments are CRAZY. However, before you ask, know that I didn't buy what I wanted (a yard, kitchen with eat-in island, etc).

However, when my tax bill came it was a lot higher than anticipated, I tried fighting it but some estates behind my house drove up my price. This in turn made my mortgage escrows higher... freaking fantastic... but then they listed the house next door and it sold in 5 days at over asking price, so I had to check the asking price... 50k more than what I paid. The floorplan is identical minus a 4th bedroom where I have a loft... WTF?

I decide to sell because the new payments are hindering me a bit from investing in 2 buy-and-hold houses a year as I originally planned, the comps would set me up well, and there is a development nearby (Northeast Raleigh, close to Knightdale but the "next" gentrification-ish area to bring raleigh prices even higher) in which I like the floorplans a lot (it's a TH and I lose a garage spot but the house is gorgeous on the inside, the community is a bit nicer, I'd have a small yard) and the house in this neighborhood we like is 40k cheaper than I bought my current one at, and they've been selling our their townhomes in about a week per building released. A new building was just released yesterday and it has ONE spot left. They state it wont be ready until Mid November/December. They have 6 buildings still not released... but on each building, the price has gone up 2-3k per unit.

Here's when it gets tricky, I talk to a Realtor, and he suggests I sell my home at $245k, because the other house had more sqft and that 4th bedroom, and a yard... Makes sense to me, a family wants a yard, I get it. After fees and such selling at asking would net me around 38k, not bad for a 5% down purchase at $207k in a 2 year span. He notices the tree buffer behind the house (which goes thin in winter and you can see homes behind you) and the new construction next door, and immediately identifies the competition. Listing now would sell faster than listing in fall/winter.

To preface what comes next, I've been preapproved for a new mortgage at 230k with 5% down WITHOUT having sold my home, but I have about 20% I could put down but don't want to ;)

So here was our original plan:

1) List home. We really dont want to get the investment cogs moving.
2) Find a house we can buy and fix up to make rent ready, leave our things at Knightdale house. House has to be under 150k to have a buffer.
3) Get under contract at the NE-Raleigh townhouse. We can give the EMD, no worries.
4) Once our house is under contract, move our things to storage ( and some to the fixer-upper to make sure they're safe)
5) Once NE-Raleigh is complete, move there
6) Since combined it would be around 337k loaned out in lieu of the 437 I've been approved for, use the remaining 100k to find another investment property to purchase.

Is this a problem? Is this a good idea?  We realize we might have to do a HML or Investment loan for the Fixer-Upper so we can get a Primary residence loan rate for the NE-Raleigh house. We just want to make sure we're at least semi-intelligent in this process.

Is there any other approach you would take? Are there any lenders that could give me information?

I know I'd be risking my EMD if Knightdale doesnt sell before NE-Raleigh is done building, but is there anything else I should be concerned about?