Refinance again, or stay the course on 10 year mortgatge

[Eric Olson]

Hi All,

Been lurking for a while and love all the helpful posts.  Newbie to RE as well. Wanted to get thoughts on my current house situation in Rocklin, CA.

I own one side of a duplex and refinanced this summer from a 20 year to a 10 year at 3.2%.  However, we are planning to move
to Tennessee next year as we bought a small property and plan to build in the near future.  If I rent out my place at current prices, 
it won't cash flow and most likely, would be -$100 or more if I factor in capex, maintenance.  It does have a brand new a/c, relatively new roof, brand new kitchen, newly landscaped front yard. It's one of the nicest in our 4 block stretch by far (built in 1976).

The last several months I've been reading a lot more on RE investing and plan to invest in a duplex or triplex and house hack in Tennessee.
I would not have refinanced had I known we would want to move so soon.

So my question is, do I stay the course knowing in approximately 9.5 years I'll own it outright? Prices in Rocklin are ridiculous and it would likely sell in the high $300s (currently appraised for $315k), or I could rent it from out of state.  Or do I refinance again back to a 30 year
and have cash flow.

Or,  like many people, sell and get out of California.  I'd likely walk with $170-180k and be able to use that to invest in much more inexpensive homes in Tennessee.

Again, new to RE and all the moving parts, but learning little by little.  Looking forward to your comments or recommendations.

Thanks,
Eric

[Alex Fortsch]

I'm with @Joe Bertolino for the reasons he stated, but also for the tax savings. You didn't mention what you purchased the half-plex for, but I'd assume if you're walking away with $175k, a lot of that is appreciation. You can sell now and pay no taxes on the gain as it was your primary residence. Should you hold it as a rental when you move to TN and decide after a couple years you're not a fan of out of state investing or being a landlord in general, you've created a significant tax liability as you've lost the primary residence status.