Should spouse and I consolidate mortgages under one of our names?

[EJ Lachendro]

Hello BP community. I’ve been a member for years now, but not very active, this is actually my first post. My wife and I have been slowly accumulating investment properties over the last 5 years and I’m hoping to scale it up this year. My question is what your thoughts are about refi-ing several of our properties into just one of our names. We currently own 5 properties (including our own, though it does have a rental carriage house), but three of them have both of our names on the mortgage, so collectively it looks like we have 8 mortgages. With the future in mind, would you refinance the three properties into just one of our names (or a 2/1 split)? There’s also the possibility for me to pursue real estate full time, so it may be beneficial for me to use some of my buying power and credit before I no longer have a steady income. We’ve obviously been going the conventional route and hope to pursue some more creative ventures, but it seems to me like it would be a good idea to leave as many doors open as possible when it comes to financing. Thanks in advance for your input.