Financing a home without selling existing home

[Joshua Easters]

Hi Everyone,

I am going to be in the market for a home in Tampa, FL early 2018. I own a home in Ruskin, FL that I am currently renting out. I owe $40k on the home in Ruskin with a mortgage payment of $700. After buying the Ruskin home for $56k, I put $20k into it, and currently rent it to long-term renters at $1,300 monthly. I recently had it appraised by a bank, and the appraisal came out at $160k.

My current annual income is at around $115,000. I have a $450/month car payment, minimal credit card debt, and a high credit score. I also have an untapped $35k HELOC on the rental house ready to use if needed. This could potentially be expanded given the appraised value of the home. I currently rent a home in the neighborhood I want to buy in, and when my lease is up in April, I would like to purchase a primary residence in that area.

My main objective is to purchase my primary residence without needing to sell the Ruskin house, which has become a nice passive income generator. Does anyone have any insight on what difficulty I might have in securing financing due to the fact I will be purchasing as second home (thought it will be my primary residence)? I could use the $35k HELOC on a down payment, but I am not sure what implications that might have in the financing process as well. I could potentially add between $5k and $10k to the down payment from savings, but would want to limit that as much as possible. I am looking at homes in the $250k to $350k range.

Any insight you might have as I approach this goal in 2018 would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!