Use Equity to buy or sell and use cash

[David Casey]

Hello, I’m a long term investor / lover of RE. I’ve completely rehabbed multiple primary residences trading up each time. (I’m shocked my wife has not divorced me yet.. ). We’ve also acquired a three 3 family houses and used the cashflow to pay for a second home all while working my full time day job for the last 18 years. I’m at a point in my career where I have come to the conclusion that I want to go further into real estate and gradually move away from my day job. I’m looking to move into larger multi family properties with the goal to initially replace my W-2., build passive income and equity to teach my kids the value of. We have decent equity in the investment properties and wanted to ask whether it would make more sense to sell all 3 and 1031 into a 10-20 unit or keep them and take out a home equity line for the down payment? Thanks, David

[Michele G.]

Welcome! That is the exact situation I am in right now. I have 3 good SFH cash flowing properties with tons of equity. It's a tough call. I see pros & cons for both routes.