Pay Down or Save

[Account Closed]

Hello BP,

My first home was not intended to be a rental but after 2 years my family outgrew the home and we jumped on a deal for a larger home. Now I am a landlord with a razor thin cash-flow with above market rental lease. The cash flow problem is due to paying on the upper limit of the property value and leveraged with FHA (4.8% interest) with MI for another 2 years. After 2 years the MI is eligible to be removed if the loan to equity ration is at or below 78%. I plan on keeping the home long term and pay down to eliminate the MI to give myself some breathing room.

My question is this; do I continue to pay down the note and have the home free and clear in 6-7 years and snowball the additional cash flow on to the other property to pay off in 3-4 years then pay off the next in 1-2 years etc. or do I save the money for other opportunities/investment vehicles. I currently max out my work 401k and Roth IRA. My goal is to have 7-10 SFH paid and clear to live off of in 20 years or less and be a landlord full time.

Would home equity loan be equivalent to saving that money for a down payment for the next opportunity assuming home value is not declining?

Thank you all for your consideration.

- Joe (In great need of a financial adviser familiar with real estate investing)