My starter strategy

[Nick B.]

I've been browsing BP for a couple of weeks now and have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the community here. Thanks for making this place so valuable.

I am looking for advice. My wife and I own a home, purchased in early 2011 for $240k, and we currently have $220k left on the mortgage. It was a short sale, and we purchased at the very bottom of the market. Current interest rate is 4.8%, with a total monthly payment of $1850.

The house has appreciated to $315k. This is a realistic appraisal as we have closely been monitoring comparable Sold homes in our neighborhood. I am not exaggerating the value of our home.

We do not have children. Our combined income is $130k. 720 credit score. We have very little cash at this time, though our parents have offered to do a HELOC on their home that would allow us $130k.

Our goal is to sell our home for around $315k, which I think would net us roughly $80k. We would sell it ourselves. My wife just recently got her real-estate license. We would then rent a home. Then we would look for investment properties which we would buy, refurb, hold, and rent. We would use the $80k from our home sale and potentially the $130k from parents HELOC.

Please let me know what you think. I value your input. Thank you,
Nick