Good time to Cash out Refi?

[Krista Kennedy]

Hi BP,

I'm in the process of refinancing my jumbo VA mortgage from 3.5% to hopefully 2.75%. I have the option of taking $250k cash out. The plan is to invest that money in buy/hold rentals and kick-start my real estate portfolio. Is there any reason why this would be a bad idea, particularly in light of a potential downturn? I figure worst case I can dump the money in a CD and make just under the 2.75% to defray the extra monthly costs. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!