Have a great base, Don’t know which path to take

[Marcus Pender]

To start, I am very lucky to own a primary residence that is paid off in the northern Kentucky area. I have recently been educating myself on getting started in real estate investing.

My wife and I were planning to move within the next 2 years into our "dream home" using the money from selling the primary residence and our well paying for the area W2s. We have thought recently, maybe rent out the primary residence (rent would be around $2300/m) and use the rent to pay for a mortgage in a property that we move into. The goal would be to move every year or two and continue this process. We looked into house-hacking, however there are not any multifamilies around that would be able to support us, our child, and two dogs.

What would you do if you were in our shoes? We want to make the best decision based on our circumstance, but we feel that there are an overwhelming amount of options on the best path forward.

[James Wilcox]

Quote from @Marcus Pender:

To start, I am very lucky to own a primary residence that is paid off in the northern Kentucky area. I have recently been educating myself on getting started in real estate investing.

My wife and I were planning to move within the next 2 years into our "dream home" using the money from selling the primary residence and our well paying for the area W2s. We have thought recently, maybe rent out the primary residence (rent would be around $2300/m) and use the rent to pay for a mortgage in a property that we move into. The goal would be to move every year or two and continue this process. We looked into house-hacking, however there are not any multifamilies around that would be able to support us, our child, and two dogs.

What would you do if you were in our shoes? We want to make the best decision based on our circumstance, but we feel that there are an overwhelming amount of options on the best path forward.

@Marcus Pender welcome to BP and the forums. First off congrats on having a primary residence that if owned free and clear. That is a nice accomplishment. To answer your questions it really comes down to a personal choice and how much money you might need for the "dream home" and if you are willing to wait for that to happen. HH your way into other properties is pretty powerful.

What I would personally do is is get a HELOC on your primary before you move. That way you have access to the equity if needed for something. Move out your primary into the dream home or a HH property. That is up to your and your goals. Rent out your former primary. Decide within a year or two if you want to keep the property as a rental or just sell it. Follow @Dave Foster's timeline to avoid capital gains tax if you do choose to sell that property. GL!