How do you turn home equity into more investments ?

Question

Hi there. I’m new to the active investment life and I’m searching for ideas or advice. 8 years ago we bought our first house that we now have roughly 200k in equity. We rent it out now and own another home right across the street that we owe more on but they both appraise at the same amount, however we plan on keeping the second one we bought (unless given a solid reason to not keep it but so far nothing has made sense for that)

Our goal: to put 200k into as many reliable streams of income but not overwhelm ourselves with too rapid of growth to quickly or at least manageable growth.

Is that to vague or broad of a goal?

Our goal: to put 200k into as many reliable streams of income but not overwhelm ourselves with too rapid of growth to quickly or at least manageable￼ growth.

Is that to vague or broad of a goal?

Kristyl L. Isaacson · Answer

Were in North Idaho. The market is really crazy here right now so were looking for vacation rentals in our area hot spots, potential Brrrs, and traditional rentals. Contractors are slim because the area growth is 181% (according to the last report I saw). So as of now we are educating ourselves as much as possible, setting goals and then setting out to crush those goals. 2020 is going to be very exciting!

Jean Marx · Answer

Hi Amber - We use a HELOC for any investing where we don't plan to leave the $$ in the project (BRRR, Flips). We've been focused on Arkansas for buy and holds with the cheaper price point and favorable landlord/tenant laws. However, we're open to flips in Sacramento and are considering a small multi-family for our next primary residence. Good luck! Feel free to message me if you have an questions about our experience with that process.

Quentin Mitchell · Answer

@Amber Knoth Great job having those things in place helps see it when you find it, also I am a huge fan of smaller multi-family.

Amber Knoth · Answer

@Kristyl L. Isaacson

Very nice! I know a lot of people out in Idaho, many California natives are going there..

Amber Knoth · Answer

@Kristyl L. Isaacson

What area are you in? We are even exploring the options of partnering here in Sacramento. What we bring to the table is:

My husband is a home inspector, so any property we buy will be thoroughly inspected but someone who is not only likeminded, but is very knowledgeable. He is also a tradesman, he can make any repair to any property himself; weather it be construction, electrical, plumbing, pest repairs, etc..

I worked with an investor here in Sacramento specifically finding good deals and running the numbers, figuring out what rehab costs would be and what our highest offer can be- they now have fancy calculators for this but regardless it’s valuable to not have to rely on a tool. We also already manage a rental property, so we have some inside knowledge in that area.

Also- we have money to invest, which is important!

Kristyl L. Isaacson · Answer

@Amber Knoth

I'm following this thread because I am in the exact same situation. We are up 200k on our house and I'm looking at all the options. Thank u and I'm hoping more people comment.

Amber Knoth · Answer

@Quentin Mitchell hi Quentin, thanks for the reply. Since I posted that I’ve been doing a lot of thinking a narrowing down and defining my goals more clearly.

I need at least 4K coming in monthly-I currently have one property that cash flows $600 monthly plus income from my husbands job. He is a home inspector here in California but we are looking to supplement his income with rental income.

I’m thinking we should immediately start looking a (at least) a 4 door multi family unit and start there and continue adding more multi family from there. My husband thinks we should start with less and work up to over 4 doors so we can “get our feet wet” but my problem with that is simple-WHY?  The only answer I can come up with is that most people in our position can’t make that leap first (mostly due to money), but unless I’m missing s omething, WE CAN! We have multiple options with our current rental- sell it and make $200k+ or cash out refinance which would leave us with less capital but one more property in our portfolio.

We keep saying we are “new to investing” but that’s not the case at all. We bought our first home in 2012, we still own it-that is our rental now. We also own our primary and with our next move would also be renting this one out.

Quentin Mitchell · Answer

I think you make your goal a little more defined like buy 1 or 2 properties per year, 3, 4 bed 1, 2 bath that why one you know exactly what you are looking for and that makes it easier to find and to you have a tangible goal to work towards instead of saying we want to invest this money. Also with clearly defined criteria, people you meet will be able to tell you about deals that they come across because they will know that a particular property fits your criteria and you may be interested, and also you will know exactly what you don't want as well.

How do you turn home equity into more investments ?

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