Cash out Refinance guidelines?

[David Henry]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at doing my first cash out refinance. I purchased the property in 2015 for 150k using a conventional loan. Zillow and Redfin think its currently worth ~200k.

I plugged their estimate into quicken loans, which indicated I would be able to cash out enough to cover all of my initial investment. Unfortunately, the increased mortgage payment would eliminate all of my cash flow. If my maintenance or vacancy costs vary significantly from my estimates then I could be in the red. This seems a bit risky, but being able to put that cash straight into the next deal is a powerful motivator...

Should I consider keeping a cashflow buffer and only withdraw a portion of the available equity? Does anyone have any rules of thumb for this?

At time of purchase I added granite counters, tile, and laminate flooring. Are those upgrades likely to tack on any extra value in the eyes of an appraiser?

Thanks!

Dave