Pay down my loan or save for the next investment?

[Jeff Dimmler]

I recently purchased my first home!  Currently, I am living the townhouse I bought and plan on renting it out.  I would like to either purchase an investment property and keep living in the current place, or house hack the next place and rent out the current.  If I decide to go with option one I will need to save up a bit more and find a place with tenants to qualify.  I am also renting out a room to a friend, so I have a bit of house hacking going on here.  Anyways, now that you know a little bit about my situation, should I save up more now or spend a little more per month towards my principle?  I have about $300-$450 per month to either save or pay the principle.

By the way, I could not have done my first deal without all of the great people here on BP!  Thank you so much to everyone who has answered my questions!  There is a lot of great content on here!

[Steve Vaughan]

I just heard an interesting podcast where the guy recommended getting to 5 properties before paying them down. He then snowballed all cash-flow towards the smallest loan.

Personally, I'll keep long-term any fixed resi loan at 5% or below even though I've paid off 19 doors.  Too easy to beat 4.125%.  If a primary, the interest probably is below your standard deduction and not even deductible.  

I agree with getting rid of PMI, but I would acquire a few more first @Jeff Dimmler.