To swin or Not to swim (Rentals are the answer)

[James Beaver]

Hello BP family and friends.

I hope your portfolios are performing well. ;-)

I had laid some of the groundwork for me to start Investing but am looking for some advice.

I now have a 15yr interest only HELOC on my primary residence (Line limit is $90,000 with $29,000 +/- used on paying off some personal debt leaving $60,000 +/-).

I have an LLC that owns 1 SFR and I have a $35,000 +/- CD on deposit to give me access to a Line of Credit with a different bank. Those funds came from a loan against my 401(k) that I repay from my paycheck.

I have a personal credit card with a $32,0000 limit. (Used for day to day purchases and is paid off after each use to get the cash rewards each month....$30-$40 +/-) free money.

I have a PLOC with a $5000.00 limit. $0 balance

I have business credit card with a $5000.00 limit. $0 balance

And a Home Depot CC with a $2500.00 limit. (It was $5k but the lowered it due to lack of use. smh)

...and a Kohl's card, but my wife wanted that.

I am interested in 2-4 unit Multifamily and also in low end cash flowing single family that I can BRRRR. Cash flow is my main objective.

I know having a property owning LLC is a good thing but I'm not sure if I should sell off my owner interest (the initial personal investment of $35k) to combine it with the $60k Heloc to hunt for a larger Multifamily property, or focus on more SFR and 2-4 Multifamily.

I reside in Covington, GA with not a lot of investment opportunities here so I'm having to look elsewhere. I've been looking at Louisville Ky my hometown where cash flow seems to be pretty good in some less desirable areas.

Also on the table is a rental in a different LLC I just had to do a set-out on located in Macon, an hour and 30min drive away. (Property manager was horrible so she's been fired). It needs some work to get it turned. Not sure of the numbers just yet, but contractors will be going by in the next day or two to provide estimates. But that'll be another post. ;-)

I believe I'm suffering from analysis paralysis at the moment. Lol. and I could use some insight from some seasoned investors. I know it's all my choice but if you were just starting out again with access to the available funds what would you do?

If I don't move on a property soon I'm thinking of just putting a new in ground pool in my backyard and swimming around in circles until feel better about myself. Lol

P.S. I'm in the process of getting preapproved with a HML... I know that money isn't cheap but I've got to get started somehow.

Or I could uproot my family and use my VA loan with no down payment and no PMI to get a new house and rent this one out. But I just love my basement and I only have $120,000 +/- remaining on a 15yr fixed @ 2.875%.

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Garlington]

Keep your present loan in place, and rent that property out. You can "love" your basement from a distance sir because it isn't making you any money unless....never mind.......:-)

Anyway use a VA Loan and buy a duplex....uproot the family.....yes it will be a sacrifice, but you are working on the future....see if you can get a duplex on a 1% rule. Live there for a year as "required"....then apply for a Navy federal Credit union Loan.....It is also zero down, no PMI for veterans and buy an SFR....keep the VA loan in place....move out, yes, I know...uprooting the family again....but you were in the military sir like I was.....uprooting the family was par for the course....this is no different except now instead of doing it for your country you are doing it for your future....

Literally 2 years from now you can have 3 properties....then the real fun starts when you begin taking out helocs or doing refi's on multiple properties so you can buy in the midwest where you don't get appreciation but you do get cashflow......how do i know this? 

:-)