Good Morning; Good Evening Bigger Pockets family.

[Terron Winn]

Hello all, 

My name is Terron and i have a background In Business Management with little to no experience in Real Estate investing. 

Currently I am living in my home that I have purchased in 2011 and now it has accumulated about 200K in equity but I do not know what to do with it. I would love to be able to buy and hold or flip a house; however, the county that I live in is really expensive and my income from my job wouldn't allow me to purchase another home in San Diego at the market prices they are at now. My thoughts are to look into another state for a buy and hold or a flip and eventually work my way back to being able to buy in my own backyard eventually. 

What I hope to gain from being a part of the bigger pockets family is knowledge and to be able to meet some great like minded individuals.

[Polar Prutaseranee]

I say start local first. It's easier to manage and it'll give you an idea of what you need to have done. Then if you're comfortable with it, go ahead and start moving outward. Good luck!

[Account Closed]

Welcome and good evening

[Dan H.]

Originally posted by @Terron Winn:

Good morning all! Happy Monday. 

@Dan H. gave great information on why keeping my investments in San Diego makes sense and he gave great facts on why; and I agree. That is my first plan of attack; purchase here in San Diego. (Lakeside, El Cajon, La mesa). . 

Am I on the right path?

 I think you are on the right path as long as you are prepared to be able to handle a down cycle.  I am confident of the long term San Diego RE appreciation (property and rent appreciation).

One thing to consider on whether to keep your existing house as your investment property. The pro is you have the prop 13 protection. However, you need to analyze the prop 13 savings against other potential rental properties advantages. My worst performing REI is the unit that used to be my home. This is the case even with a prop 13 value that is less than 50% of actual value. So prop 13 is saving me ~$2500/year versus someone who purchased the property today as an investment. Even with the $2500/year "savings" the property was not initially purchased to be a buy and hold rental but was purchased to be my home. Different neighborhoods are better for buy and hold than where my house is. The other potential REI may have a smaller yard to care for (a majority of tenants do not desire big yards in San Diego). So the house I used to live in has been a fine investment but my other San Diego RE investments have been better. My point is that you need to analyze whether keeping you current home as your buy n hold rental is a better option than selling it (and paying selling commission) and purchasing a RE property that is chose as a good buy n hold rental property.

Good luck

[Terron Winn]

Today I have received a response back from BOA in regards to my insurance. I know I have mentioned that I cannot remove my PMI in a earlier post; however I have made a mistake in the acronym, Its actually MPI that I am paying since I have a FHA loan and according to them,im still shy 16K.

Bank of America states that to cancel the monthly MIP on my loan, the principle balance on my loan must be 78%. Currently my balance is 182,677.62 and it needs to be at or below 164,650.20. They are not looking at equity that has accumulated but the purchese price.