Thinking of second triplex: refinance, wait/save, or lower $$ ?

[Chris Suharlim]

Hi fellow investor. A newbie here has only been lurking so far. I’m working off of a buy-and-hold strategy for cashflowing (or at least break even) multifamily.

Five months ago I closed on my first property: triplex in worcester $560k, with 25% down at 3.5% 30y fixed. @BrianAllen is my agent - very knowledgeable, generous with teaching newbies, and patient - fully recommend. Did small rehab, and placed new tenants. Brought up rental income from 4400/mo to 5200/mo. I haven’t had a new appraisal, but comps in the area sold for 660-670 now. Going well so far, and excited to get into my second deal.

In a dilemma now: refinancing seems expensive. A few lenders I called quoted 5.25% for 70% LTV, but the BP podcasts seem to indicate the rates will keep going up. Probably still somewhat cashflow, but less. Should I bite the bullet and tap into this 45-50k equity so I have enough for my next deal? (Another investment triplex in the area)

Second alternative is to continue saving and wait 6-8 months - then getting back into the market late-fall. Market activities in New England would’ve slowed down then. Plus we’ve seen the huge increase in price in the last 6 months — properties might’ve gone up even more

Third option is to explore doing duplexes, or SFH instead, so its more affordable today, but i'll lose the economies of scale of triplexes (which i like)

Would love your thoughts on this. Thank you!

Chris