Is a refinance smart in this market?

[David Reeves]

Hello! I am currently trying to make some smart moves with my current home. My idea was to refinance my home for the current market value or under. My home was bought for 235,000$ and according to redfin the current market value is at 287,000$. With that I was going to refinance and take the money from the refinance and finish some necessary jobs around the house such as new flooring downstairs, finish the kitchen cabinet refacing, and the last bathroom remodel. Most I can do myself, just do not necessarily have the funds at the moment for it all. So I would knock those out with the refinance money and save the rest. I would hold it until I got out of the military and moved back home and use another VA loan for low money down on a triplex or fourplex. Once I moved back home I would rent out my current home and just manage it from a few hours away. I live south of Washington, DC so the rent in my area is 2000+ a month. My current mortgage is around 1,100 but with a refinance it would go up. Does anybody have any thoughts on this current plan? Thank you in advance.

[J Zev J.]

@David Reeves - Have you looked into a HELOC? That might help get you some capital to work on the projects that seem necessary for you to rent it out eventually. Also, you're only paying interest on what you need instead of a cash-out refi. You could compare interest rates on a cash-out refi and HELOC to run some calculations on the projects you're going to work on to see if that makes financial sense.