1 Year Strategy - Use Equity or Rent?

[Dominick Tonnarini]

Hi Everyone - First time poster here!

My wife and I purchased our property in 2017 and have ~150k in equity (and a lower Mortgage rate due to the 2017 rates).  My wife really wants to look for a new place and would like to use our equity as a down payment.  I on the other hand, am hoping we can save for 1-2 years and then use that as a down payment and rent our current primary.  Here are some details about the two options.

Option 1 - We would use our equity and some cash as a down payment.  The monthly payment on our new house would be much lower than if we chose option 2.  We also have zero RE investing experience, so we would be also be the much safer and easier option than having to manage a long-term rental. 

Option 2 - We currently have ~$50k cash on hand and would plan on saving another 30-50k over the next 12 months.  At this point, we would would have $80-100k in cash for a down payment and would rent our current primary residence.  Based on the rental estimates, we would net about $700 a month in surplus income since our mortgage is pretty inexpensive.

I'm looking to get any and all opinions as I want to make the correct choice for us and also want to make sure I don't screw anything up if we do decide to choose option 2.  Thanks everyone!