What is your long-term plan for your investment properties

[Jarrod Sigsby]

Hi all, new to BP and looking forward to all the great information this site contains.  I am a 1/3'rd owner of 6 rental properties worth about $2M generating approx $13,000 in monthly rents with mortgage, tax and insurance at $7,200/month.  We owe $760k in mortgages.  We decided recently to aggressively go after the debt and will have all paid off in late 2025 (assuming trend rent increases).  What I am struggling with is our long-term plan.  We have never taken a dime from these properties and just used excess plus new money to buy more.  At this point I think I am tapped out on new property as I am doing most of the work on these (property management, finances, ect.) and also have a full-time job.  Once these are paid off I am afraid the income will be taxed at a high interest rate (I am in a high tax bracket already) since I will have no interest write-offs.  I have heard people say to keep them for the RE and rent appreciation and just cash-out refi to get at the money tax-free.  That just does not feel right to me but to pull this money out tax-free and just invest in mutual funds sounds pretty good.  I have also thought about selling but fear missing out on the RE and rent appreciation and also would be hit pretty hard on taxes as bought these at pretty low prices and this area has seen unusually high gains in the last 3-5 years. 

What are your thoughts?  What are your plans for your real estate?  I am age 50 and plan to retire from day job in the next 5-7 years so trying to set myself up as best I can.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing about your ideas and any advice you would have for me.