Nathan,
To your first point, I have two years of rent equivalency saved in reserves for this property; we replaced the roof two years ago, all appliances except the fridge are new or refurbished, the water heater has been replaced and the fence/gates mended from a tornado. To say the least, I am familiar with why reserves are necessary. So for us, this house, if paid off, would cash flow $540 a month. On your second, the total mortgage for both right now is $2,500 a month, and after refi, it will be $1600. To your third & fourth, 80% equity is $180K, and with a 10% SBA loan due to self-storage not being real-estate, I would be able to reach up to $1.8M. As I said from the outset, I am a first-time investor; I have a lot to learn and will continue to learn no matter how much I succeed. And yes, I have a base understanding of how to value self-storage; thank you to BiggerPockets content and networking through others that have been successful in this space in my area.
So, I am looking for help to mitigate my wife's worry over risk; it would be much appreciated if anyone has some keen insights here. Or, if my logic is flawed and there is a better way to position my assets to push into the self-storage space, I am all ears.
Thanks,
Rich
