What’s my best option to start?

Question

Hi, I’m AJ. I’m just starting out and want to get into owning rental properties. I’m eager to begin, but I’m unsure how to start. I’m considering either renting out or selling my current home. I’ve lived here for eight years and have built up some equity through backyard renovations—including a brush finish concrete patio, a gazebo with electricity, a deck, landscaping, and a gas grill. The house was already move-in ready when I bought it.

The only interior updates I could make are new kitchen countertops, possible roof repair from hail (no leaks but I’m getting it checked out just in case soon), windows, painting or buying new cabinets, painting the walls, painting the basement floor, and reapplying waterproofing (Hydrolock) to the basement walls. My plan is to complete a couple of these updates, get the house reappraised, and then pull an equity line of credit to use as a down payment for a duplex or triplex. I could live in one unit, manage the property, and fix up—and eventually rent out—the other one or two units.

Or, would it be better to just sell my house? I originally bought it for $112,000 eight years ago at a 4% interest rate, and based on the current market (though I haven’t had it appraised), its value has almost doubled. If I buy a multifamily home and don’t use my equity, what kind of loan should I get?

Alternatively, should I Airbnb my house? I’m 15 minutes from downtown Saint Louis Missouri, less than two minutes from a highway, in the county, decent school district, with plenty of restaurants nearby and a gas station within walking distance—it’s a great location.

I feel like I have three different options to explore, but since I’m new to this, I’d really appreciate some advice and guidance. My goal is to pursue this as a way to generate passive income so, over time, I can cut back on my electrician job—or at least work just enough to keep my health benefits and insurance. I want to save my body and not spend the rest of my life on a ladder, while working toward financial freedom. I just turned 30 and I’m ready to start taking things more seriously and figure out more ways to make money using my hands-on skills. I’ve been a union electrician for 10 years now, so I’m used to hard work and figuring things out. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if I’m on the right track. Thanks guys.

Melissa Justice · Answer

@Alexander Rellergert,

Hey AJ - thanks for sharing all of this. You’re absolutely on the right track, and your background as a union electrician puts you in a great position to succeed in real estate. You’ve already got the mindset, skillset, and work ethic - now it’s just about choosing the best path forward based on your goals.

Here’s how I’d look at your options:

Option 1: Keep Your House & Pull Equity
You’ve got solid equity, a great rate at 4%, and good location features for long-term or short-term rental. Instead of selling, you might:

Refinance or pull a HELOC for a down payment on a small multi-family.

House hack a duplex/triplex by living in one unit and renting the others.

Over time, rent your current house as a long-term or mid-term rental.

This allows you to grow without giving up that low mortgage rate, and your hands-on skills can boost value in the new property.

Option 2: Sell and Reinvest
If you sell, you’d walk away with more upfront capital, but lose that low-rate loan and potential long-term rental income. This could still make sense if:

You want to simplify and go all-in on multifamily from the start.

You find a market where your capital goes further.

Just keep in mind the cost of buying back into the market later with higher rates.

Option 3: Airbnb Your Home
With your proximity to downtown STL and highway access, Airbnb could work, especially if you furnish it well and it has a good vibe. You’d want to:

Check local short-term rental laws and taxes.

Run comps for Airbnbs nearby.

Consider your time investment or hiring a cohost.

This could be a great test run to get your feet wet in rentals.

Your hands-on background is a huge edge. You'll save on repairs and build equity faster. Whether you BRRRR or buy-and-hold, those skills are gold.

You’re 30, have 10 years of trade experience, and a plan to step away from the ladder over time - that’s powerful. This is a long game, and you're showing up early with intention.

If it were me? I'd lean toward keeping the house, pulling equity, and getting into your first turnkey SFR or multi with the goal of building cash flow while keeping your financial foundation strong. From there, you can decide if Airbnb or selling your original house makes more sense.

You’ve got momentum - keep moving. You're 100% capable of building something meaningful with real estate.

Always happy to help and share more. Best of luck!

Nicholas L. · Answer

@Alexander Rellergert

i like your plan to house hack.  why pull a line of credit, though?  why not just find a way to get a low down payment loan and use your own cash?  you have a great rate - just leave it alone.

and... making your current house into an LTR or STR are very, very different - this will be both a personal decision and based on local market criteria.  i'd talk to some local PMs / find some local investors doing both and get their input.

Varinder Kumar · Answer

Just wanted to share a new tool I’ve been using — it’s called analytixcre.com. It’s a super solid underwriting platform built specifically for commercial real estate.

You can input rent rolls, expenses, and it instantly generates clean, export-ready PDFs. It also has built-in AI to write executive summaries, plus a CRM and interactive maps for tracking deals.

It’s been really helpful for speeding up my underwriting process and keeping everything organized in one place. Worth checking out if you’re a broker, investor, or just analyzing deals regularly.

Let me know if you try it out. Always curious what others think.

Dan H. · Answer

I see responses with regard to financing, house hacking, rent approaches that all seem pretty good.  Think hard about giving up a 4% loan.

I wanted to address the interior improvements you discussed.  The best value add is when things are in dreadful condition.   If you take a clean and good, but dated, kitchen and replace it, the added value (value added above cost) is not going to be as great as if you replace a totally thrashed kitchen.

I believe the items you listed will add marginal value above the costs and likely does not warrant the effort.

My general rule for a value add is that it must add value double the cost of the value add.  This is because value adds require work and effort.  You deserve compensation for both.

good luck

Drea Na · Answer

Hi Alex,

I always like to tell people to educate, educate,educate yourself on the market you're in and the ones you're thinking about going into. Join local real estate investment meet ups, read books on the subject - bigger pockets has some of the best books on how, when, where and why to invest.

That being said, interest rates are high right now and not a whole lot of strategies are penciling out. You can never go wrong with house-hacking! I wouldn't pull equity to use as a down payment on anything in this market, and there's nothing wrong with holding continuing to build your reserves and making a move when conditions are more favorable, the market will turn, and when it does you'll be in an amazing position to try out other strategies.

Hope this helps!

Rick Albert · Answer

You have a couple of options:

1. Selling is interesting because you might get more value out of the tax free money than renting it. The backyard sounds great and the buyer pool might pay a higher price than what a tenant would pay.

2. Airbnb: My understanding is STL put in some strict laws. Plus being near the school doesn't really add value.

3. Renting it out. It will be hard to cash flow on a new property so maybe you house hack the next one (2-4 unit for example) and then rent out your house. Now you just added multiple doors with little money down. This might be the highest and best use of your money.

Ultimately you have to run the numbers as to what makes the most sense. Renting out may not be profitable and we are seeing longer than normal vacancies.

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

I would consider short term rental or medium term rental for your house. It could Be too nice for a standard long term rental.

alternatively, you could sell and exclude the gain since it's your primary residence.

either way, I'd highly recommend house hacking. It's one of the best ways to get into real estate and you learn many skills along the way from landlording, people mgmt, etc.

What’s my best option to start?

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