BRRRR question for new RE investor

[Matthew Hurchik]

Hi all,

Brand new to biggerpockets and learning a TON over the past few days from the youtube page, podcast and website. I am 26 years old and just bought my first 620k two-family rental property in suburbs of Boston. I have owned for over 8 months and have 'bought' 10-15% equity (~5% down with FHA loan as I am living in one unit, and renting the other). My original plan was to live here f Have been making mortgage payments of ~5.5k (2k over the 25 yr mortgage payment). I have also put ~30k work into the property (landscaping, bathroom, plumbing, electrician, tree removal). Based on the market and the improvements I would bet the property has increased significantly in value.

I am just learning of the BRRRR method and I think it is perfect for me as I want to keep growing my portfolio. I make good income but don't have a ton of capital (put most of my savings into the property). Now that the market has ballooned since my purchase, and I have made significant improvements, I think I need to start planning for the 'refinance' and 'repeat' part of BRRRR.

That being said, I was wondering what the community would suggest for me. There is incredibly low inventory in my area (as is with the rest of the country) and bidding wars are happening here too. I'm not sure it is the best time to buy a new property, but at the same time I may not be able to get a higher appraisal value over the next couple of years than I could right now - depending on what happens with the market. 

I know that the normal path with BRRRR would be to refinance to purchase another property. Would it make sense to refinance and hold off on buying a new property? Or does that defeat the purpose. Not entirely sure what happens with a refinance - I have heard Brandon and David say many times that I would get my money back. What exactly does that entail - is that 'money' just available funds for another property? Does this all not apply because I am living in the property?

Really happy to be part of this community and excited to keep learning at a rapid pace! 

Best,

Matt