All Forum Posts by: Justin Arcelaschi

 Thanks! Yes, we did include maintenance reserves and vacancy. We've been able to save a decent reserve for that property because (luckily) in the 8 years we have rented it out we haven't had a single gap in vacancy (knock on wood that continues).

We purchased current condo 2 years ago, so not a lot of equity in it yet.

We had thought about moving into a 2-4 family property and using the VA loan for that. We certainly aren't opposed to it. Most of the multi-family properties aren't in the best neighborhoods where we live, not slums either. But not neighborhoods I would want to move into with a 2 year old. If one popped up in a nicer area, we would do it for sure.

 Thank you. I was leaning more toward the refi. That is a good point that we can refi again if and when rates come down. And we will raise rent over time as well.

Kind of new to REI. My wife and I bought a condo in 2015 in Farmington, CT with the intention of living in it. About a year later I joined the Navy and we moved out to California so we rented out to a school friend of my wife's, essentially stumbling into a rental property. Once she moved out a couple years later, we hired a property manager and they have been great.

We purchased the condo for 92,000 and it has 69,000 left on it. Looking at online calculators, a rough value of it is currently 155,000. We don't have much cash on hand now to invest in another property and it would be a few years before we were able to save enough for a down payment. We thought about doing a cash out refinance which would give us roughly 40,000 after closing costs. We would use 5-10 for some repairs in the condo we are currently living in and then rent it out and house hack another condo with a VA loan. Then with the remaining cash, we have a partner who would go in on a multi-family with us. The big drawback is that the interest rate on the Farmington condo would go way up with the refinance. Rough estimate is with the new loan it would break even cash flow wise for now. Is it worth it for the interest rate to go significantly up to get the funds to help fix up current condo to rent it out, house hack another home and purchase a multi-family home?

Thank you