Should We Rent or move into our SFH Rental

[Kate Batals]

Hello, 

We have three cash flowing rental properties and our primary home. We are looking to move into our least cash flowing home ($250/mo) which also has the smallest monthly mortgage payment ($860/mo); our mortgage for our primary home is twice the amount. If we move into our rental, this will allow us to rent out our current primary home and have a good cash flowing property (about $800/mo) and it will lower our monthly expenses. This will require us to move to another state where my annual income could decrease by 10%, since job salaries in this state are lower.

Another idea we had was to rent out our primary home and rent for ourselves, as long as our rent cost is less then our current mortgage. This way we can have four rental properties versus three, and we can also avoid having to relocate out of state.

Is any one in this current situation? Any thoughts on what the better route may be? Our ultimate goal is to decrease expenses and use the extra income to pay down our properties more quickly. Thank you!