VERY new REI from San Jose, CA

[Aldwin De Torres]

Hey everyone! This place is amazing! I wish this was around 10 years ago (I'm 33 now). Background: I was always interested in accumulating wealth at a young age, but fell victim to the cookie cutter mentality of 1) go to college 2) get a good job 3) and die. I made up part 3, but you get what I mean. Anyway, I knew I wanted real estate in my early 20s, but made a decision to start a business that failed around 2007 when people lost their jobs and had no more expendable income. I was lucky enough to find an entry level job at a tech company and stayed with them for a few years before I left to start another business. 

Fast forward to now and my situation. I'm married with 2 beautiful kids and a wife that has been out of the work place to take care of them. Yes, we were able to find a way to live in San Jose on a single income! And no, I do not clear $100k/yr. My wife plans to get back to work to help generate us more cash to eventually buy a property.

After a long winded intro, we are in a situation where we have roughly $75k-$100k in equity if we sold our home. I looked into getting pre-qualified for a loan, but my W-2 and our business doesn't show enough income to make lenders feel comfortable. We are contemplating this:

Wait up to 6 months after my wife gets a job to qualify for a loan, then sell our home and move into a house hack or Single Family home to eventually rent out. However, by the time she gets a job and we wait 6-12months, the value of our home may change for the worse

I just hope we don't lose out on the equity that was built up. I would love to hear any thoughts or opinions or suggestions from you! Thanks! - Aldwin

[Account Closed]

Aldwin,

Welcome to Biggerpockets.  You have found a great free on-line real estate resource. Dive in and learn. Don't feel overwhelm.  Treat it like a buffet.  Absorb what you can. The rest may not be relavant till later.  By the way, this site was around 10 years ago.  :-)

As you know, $75k-$100k in equity on a house is nothing for our area.  I hope I don't shock you with my response, but I wouldn't do anything you mentioned above.  I know you're excited, but talking about jumping from a frying pan into the fire.  

You're a married man with 2 kids.  Family comes first.  Run the house hacking idea by your wife and see if she's up for the task.  If the boss says no, forget it.  Happy wife = Happy life.  Ask me how I know. 

@Johnson H. host a monthly meetup at Whisper Cafe at the corner of Old Oakland Road and Brokaw in North San Jose.  Consider join us and rub elbow with other investors.  It's free to attend. Get some real estate knowledge before taking action.  Money is hard to earn, but easy to lose.  Ask me how I know.  

Feel free to reach out if you ever need a sounding board.  Welcome aboard and best of luck to you.