Congrats! That is awesome. My wife and I live here in Granbury and love it. I guess the only thing I can offer is how we are approaching this market and maybe reaffirm the HELOC you already mentioned. I would not refi if I did not have to at these rates and the HELOC may be the ticket for you. It'll be easier to get a HELOC while you live there but maybe count on a conservative appraisal. Just manage your debt!
We’ve done a little bit of many things in RE investing since 2019, including an Airbnb on the water, rentals, new build on the water that we are trying to sell currently, flips, etc. here is what we are doing:
Currently, we are trying to pay down debt and accumulate more cash and cashflow to better prepared for the downturn we are in. That's not to say we are not offensive (I'm always looking but I'm heavily discounting everything I'm looking at), but I've not gone through a significant economic downturn as a REI and I'm trying to prepare the best I can. I am in oil and gas and have gone through many commodity busts, and cash reserves has always gotten me through.
I think you’ve already mentioned y’all do not want to sell. I was very surprised in the lack of showings on our new build. It’s a small SF on a canal that we initially priced very aggressively but we missed the boat to sell aggressively. My wife listed a house in FW and is under contract and appraised, but be mindful that the market is shifting and old comps may be of little worth if they are before this past fall. With it being winter and rates 6-7%, it’s much slower than anticipated and that is weighing down prices. We will rent it out if we do not see enough traction on our lake house.
I would strongly advise discounting your STR income as well. It's a tough market right now and marketing is crucial. Be skeptical of what the calculators tell you. We opened ours in April and this summer was very good, but overall, our income is at least 30-40% less than anticipated. Our customers love our product, so this is telling us we likely have a marketing problem. We've decided to find professional management instead of trying to DIY it. That has been our experience so far.
We are also clearing out a property that will be more of a burden with little equity for us. We picked up a small cabin in Granbury from the 1880s. We intended to Airbnb it. But I cannot find a contractor who can build what we visioned and for us to have equity in the deal. For a DIYer, this project could be a good one, but we think our attention would be best served looking for amazing deals, then trying to make this one work for us. So I’ll be listing it soon.
We bought one of our flips as our home and while I do not like the interest rate (or the mortgage), we still bought with a lot of equity and I will put in an rv pad for additional income.
That is how we are positioning. I hope that is useful to you. In short, I'd look at the HELOC if you are comfortable with the risks and can manage the debt.
