The property was pretty much a hoarder house so the first step was to clear everything out.The scope of the rehab: All New Interior Paint Some Exterior PaintNew Floors in the Master Bedroom New Stainless Steel Appliances Painted Kitchen Cabinets and Added New Hardware Tore Some Kitchen Cabinets Out and Added Floating Shelves New Light Fixtures All New Sod in the Backyard New Privacy Fence Interior Drain Tile and 3 Support Beams Added to a Basement Wall Epoxy Painted the Basement Concrete FloorNEW HVAC System Framed the Whole Basement Out and Hung Drywall - Mud, Taped, Sanded, And Painted All in all the live in rehab took 6.5 months The numbers:Bought: $125kRehab: $11k (1/3 of that was the new HVAC system) Appraisal: $168k I was happy with the refinance appraisal number I gotI am able to refinance out of the PMI, lower my interest rate, and lower my monthly paymentI forced about 30k in equity I did not do a "cash out refinance" as I wanted to live my equity in the home and pull out a HELOC in a few months to allow for a purchase of another property or a "rehab fund."

You would've gained $325k in equity, compared to $24k if you were making $500/mo on an out of state rental for the last 4 years.Forgive me if you're already investing in real estate locally and already aware of everything I am saying; but if not, have you considered buying property, or multi family in San Diego county?

I was okay with that because eight years later I had over $180,000 in equity to get my next property. 

We can't afford to pay out the $200,000 in equity upfront, but we don't want to involve a bank and lose the 2020 interest rates.I know conventional mortgages aren't typically assumable.

I wouldn't offer an amount, I'd let the end buyer make the first offer. 2-3% seems like a low fee for $1.1M walk-in equity but commercial isn't my deal.

I have roughly 100k in equity.

You say you have $600-650K in equity. 

If this is all you have and you have less than $100k in equity you’re fine. 

    $20-$40k in 'equity' is not enough. 

My understanding is that his stance on debt is due to losing all his real estate ($4M fair market value, $1M in equity) in his late 20's, when a bank called his loans due.