Seeking advice about refinance for SFR as rental

[Steve Brooks]

Hello all,

I have read and learned a lot over the years. I have never posted or been in a position of actually making things happen before. I am not sure about the best thing to do for my situation. I will give details and would like to see if anyone more knowledgeable/experienced would be able to help me decide the best course of action and hopefully why so I can learn more.

We currently live in a SFR.

It is worth approx $450,000.00

We owe approx $175,000.00 on it.

We are approx 8 years into the mortgage. It is at 3.74%

The mortgage currently has PMI, I misunderstood what made it go away and now interest rates are higher so I thought I should just let it get paid down normally, hopefully paying more principal in the future to make it go away. Other than the PMI, I think it is a pretty good situation.

The dilemma is this. We are going to be moving out of the country soon and have found a renter for the home. In attempting to follow the BRRR strategy I was thinking to refinance and take out some cash to be in a position to purchase a duplex or similar after we move. The problem for me is that the new loan would be at approx 4% or so and it will reset the 8 years we already have into paying the mortgage. If we don't do this we may have a harder time accessing the equity because of work history and it may be more expensive as either a 2nd loan/HELOC or refinanced as an investment property.

Would you please share your thoughts?

Let me know if I left out any important details.