Asking for suggestions to my situation for newbie

[Jill S Greff]

Hello All!

I am hoping to get a few suggestions for the best use of the money/situation that I have available to start. I am in my 50s and in good health and excited to start as a new real estate investor. 

I currently live in NH. I have owned my house built in 1985 and in good condition now for 8 yrs and I am the only one on the deed. I bought the home for 190k and right now its value is about 390k. I owe 165k and have my mortgage thru USDA. My mortage is 1517$ per month including property tax and homeowner ins. My mortgage interest rate is 3.5%. I have a partner we are committed to working on this as new business together.

Our goal is to have multiple rental properties with the 4 pillars cash flow, appreciation, amortization, leverage and tax benefits.  I have been reading books, listening to podcasts & webinars on this for a year via Bigger Pockets. Thank You!

We are looking to move out of NH to a warmer state such as North or South Carolina asap. I love the beach so we are looking at Charleston and Wilmington as possible areas to live. Should I be considering short, mid or long term rentals? The STR seem to have the best tax write offs but I am concerned about having too many vacancies. Wish Trumps portable mortgages were available right now but they are not. So we have a couple options.

One we could sell the house in NH, rent for a few months in the new state then buy a single family home with ADU or in law suite potential or even if could find a duplex that would work. And depending on if there is any money left see if we could use as downpayment towards a rental property maybe a small duplex. If there is not enough money left over we plan on saving money per our salaries within a year a two we could have enough for the downpayment. I am not happy with the current mortgage rates around 6.5-7% but keep hearing on the podcasts dont wait for the rates to drop as they may take years. I do not want to hold up my life for years.

Two I could rent out my single family home in NH. Work on getting a HELOC line of credit and use that money to purchase the new home in the new state. Are there any other loan options that I should consider in this scenario? The rental market in NH is strong. I am not sure if we need a rental mgmt company to run our NH home or if we should? I have contacted several mgmt companies and the going rate is 10% per month of the rental rate. Our home might rent for 2500-3000$ per month.

I am excited to hear any advice or suggestions from more experienced investors. Thank You!

Jillian Greff