Cash out Refi on primary vs conventional loan on duplex

[Corie Bilotta]

Hi, everyone!

I'm looking at financing options for buying my first investment property.  In going through the financing options, I started a cash out refi on my primary residence.  I can get $45k out of it based on the appraisal we just did.  

I thought I'd be able to get $60k but that's not going to happen.  I planned to use the equity combined with cash to make a cash offer on a duplex.  Now, I won't have enough from the equity and cash ($20k) since it will only be $65k ($45k home equity + $20k cash) and that would be a duplex that needs quite a bit of repair in this area which I'm not really interested in doing.  And that would leave me with no cash left until I save more.  I wanted something that needs updating but not a whole house remodel.

I'm thinking I don't want to use the equity at this time because its not really enough for what I wanted to do.  I worry that if I go ahead with the cash out refi, then for whatever reason a bank doesn't qualify me for a duplex using the equity as down payment, I will end up stuck with a higher interest rate than I currently have on my mortgage, no duplex and a higher mortgage payment on my primary.

I wanted to get others opinions about what to do.  If I left any important info out, please let me know and I will clarify further.