What to do with equity?

[Demetrius H.]

Hi, my wife and I have a condo in Northern VA that is estimated to have about 40-50k in equity. We purchased about 2 years ago and have a tenant that is coming up on the end of their lease and gave us 60 day notice. We could keep the property and continue to rent one more year but we found a smaller condo with a lower HOA fee that would bring in 200-300 more per month. Would it be better to keep the condo we have and refi or take the money out and use as a down payment to the smaller cheaper condo? The easy answer seems to be the ladder but the condo we have continues to go up in value and is right by a metro station which in the DC area helps a ton with renting and value. Also, the smaller condo has a long term tenant that doesn't plan to move out.