Lots of equity, what to do with it?

[Alan M.]

I'm in the fortunate situation of having a lot of equity but without much cash on hand. I need some help on how best to put the equity to use (or to sit on it for awhile)  As background, here's my current real estate portfolio:

-Condo in Boston. FMV $950,000, $340k loan at 4% with about 21 years left, $610k in equity. Cash flow of about $900/month.
-Primary residence in California. FMV $1,650,000, $590k 7/1 ARM at 2.85% (5+ more years until it resets), $1M in equity.
-Brownstone in Boston. FMV of $2.8M, $0 debt, current cash flow of about $6,000/month but can get cash flow to about $10,000/month as the current leases expire. Sadly, I inherited this property because my Mom passed away earlier this month - I want to run it as part of my portfolio and selling it is not an option I'm willing to entertain.
-About $650k total in available HELOCs on the primary residence and the Condo (zero balance, right now)

I look at the above and realize I've got a ton of equity locked up. I get the advantage of leverage, but I'm conservative by nature - I'm going to be fine financially, so I'm probably not up for taking on a huge amount of risk. I also haven't invested remotely before (lived in Boston when we bought the condo and then kept it when we moved) and I work full time, so can't really take on a bunch of properties that I would have to self-manage remotely.

A syndicator that I trust recommended pulling about $800k-$1M out, doing 2-3 deals with 3-4 syndicators, and tapping into some of the remaining equity with a HELOC. I liked that approach, as it's basically multiple eggs in multiple baskets and still leaves some equity to tap into if something comes up. Taking this amount out would also keep the existing properties cash flow positive by a good amount - so maybe we take a loan out for $800k and a HELOC for another $500k to have access to? That would leave about $1.15M in HELOCs to tap into if something attractive came up in the future. Or do I buy some SFH too and just hire a management company?

Sorry, long post. Thoughts and advice much appreciated!

[Charles Kao]

Originally posted by @Alan M.:

I'm in the fortunate situation of having a lot of equity but without much cash on hand. I need some help on how best to put the equity to use (or to sit on it for awhile)  As background, here's my current real estate portfolio:

-Condo in Boston. FMV $950,000, $340k loan at 4% with about 21 years left, $610k in equity. Cash flow of about $900/month.
-Primary residence in California. FMV $1,650,000, $590k 7/1 ARM at 2.85% (5+ more years until it resets), $1M in equity.
-Brownstone in Boston. FMV of $2.8M, $0 debt, current cash flow of about $6,000/month but can get cash flow to about $10,000/month as the current leases expire. Sadly, I inherited this property because my Mom passed away earlier this month - I want to run it as part of my portfolio and selling it is not an option I'm willing to entertain.
-About $650k total in available HELOCs on the primary residence and the Condo (zero balance, right now)

I look at the above and realize I've got a ton of equity locked up. I get the advantage of leverage, but I'm conservative by nature - I'm going to be fine financially, so I'm probably not up for taking on a huge amount of risk. I also haven't invested remotely before (lived in Boston when we bought the condo and then kept it when we moved) and I work full time, so can't really take on a bunch of properties that I would have to self-manage remotely.

A syndicator that I trust recommended pulling about $800k-$1M out, doing 2-3 deals with 3-4 syndicators, and tapping into some of the remaining equity with a HELOC. I liked that approach, as it's basically multiple eggs in multiple baskets and still leaves some equity to tap into if something comes up. Taking this amount out would also keep the existing properties cash flow positive by a good amount - so maybe we take a loan out for $800k and a HELOC for another $500k to have access to? That would leave about $1.15M in HELOCs to tap into if something attractive came up in the future. Or do I buy some SFH too and just hire a management company?

Sorry, long post. Thoughts and advice much appreciated!

I think the reasoning is sound from your friend based on your wants but don't like having a bunch of variable rate debt funding the passive investments especially because if the market changes bank can pull those LOCs out from you in a hurry and you probably are on a 5 year hold commmitment on the passive investments. I would refi out versus HELOC but can see the urge not to because you are having significant prinicpal paydown for now on your ARM. Have you given consideration to investing in real estate full time and quitting the job?