A few (newbie) questions

[Zach D.]

Been reading a while and reading blogs, first time poster. My wife and I bought our first house with Obama bucks back in 08. Happened to be in southwest Ohio and was an up and coming area. Fast forward 10 years and we are renting it out and it has appreciated over 100%. We pulled money out to buy our current home, out of state, that we are raising a family in. Needless to say it worked out; we haven’t spent our own money on the 2 homes that we have purchased. Now, we are newbies, and for the last few years of renting the home out we poured a lot of the “profit” into paying down the loan. I wasn’t aware of actual rental math for a while and assumed rent-mortgage=profit. I know, mistake. Luckily the home was brand new when we bought and I’m not too worried about maintenance right now. We do have money in our back account from the rental but not what it should be, but we’re safe. So, now I’m reading cash flow and rental books and getting a grasp. I also work in cost segregation and understand rental property is how to create wealth. The question I have is... even with the tenant paying off the rental mortgage and our down payment on our family home we still have about 100K in equity-Would it be wise to pull that out and buy a multi family, or, sell the place and then buy a multifamily? Only reason I would consider selling is that I believe it has appreciated as much as it can and we aren’t cash flowing as much now (tax abatement ran out). But it has been a hassle free and a good learning experience. We live out of state but would look to buy in southwest Ohio or would entertain a place in Florida. We have a good network of friends and family in both places. I have been looking at opportunity zones too. Like I said, I work in cost seg... Sorry for the drawn out story, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.