Should I continue holding an appreciated property?
I am an amateur when it comes to real estate investing. However, in 2012 I made a homerun deal that if managed properly it can get me to my new realized dream of becoming an actual investor. Here's the deal:
I bought a single family 1900 sqft, 3 bdrm, ranch-style house with an attached mother-in-law suite. I converted the property into a 2-family 5 bdrm (2 & 3) which I house hacked for 3 years. The purchase price was $77,500; I put 3.5% down; did a 203k loan which got me $30,000 from the bank for the rehab and put $10,000 out-of-pocket for the balance. All together i was $12,700 out-of-pocket and had a mortgage of about $108,000.
In 2015 the house appraised at $185,000 and I eventually refinanced for $130,000; I got my original investment out of the deal and use the remainder along with a VA loan to buy my primary residence. This property now cash-flows close to $1,000/mo. which is helping me pay down both my mortgages.
The property value is now $285,000 and I owe about $118,000 on my mortgage. Would it be smarter to sell the property, cash-out big and use the capital to invest in other properties? Or does it make more sense to refinance again and have less capital to invest?
My concern is that a refi would drop my cash-flow/equity and I'm not sure if the current market is the best time to invest.