Pay down mortgage to then cash out refinance?

Pay down mortgage to then cash out refinance?

Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 1 vote

In Long-Distance Real Estate Investing, Greene discusses amortization and the benefits of paying down loans quickly. At the end of Chapter 4, he writes, "...why not reinvest that income into new properties? Pay down your loans faster, refinance them, and then reinvest that chunk of tax-free income into a new multifamily property or several single-family properties?"

Sorry if this is painfully obvious to toehrs - I'm just starting out - but are loans generated by cash out refinancing typically at much lower rates than the initial conventional or commercial loans through which rental properties are typically purchased? And if not, what's the benefit of aggressively paying down a mortgage, only to then cash out refinance? Wouldn't it be the same to pay the mortgage down at a slow rate and then use the excess funds to invest in new property?

Thanks.

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  • Joe VilleneuvePro Member
    Plymouth, MI · Member since 2013 · 13k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    4y

    Why would you take free money and exchange it for money that costs you money?

  • Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    @Joe Villeneuve I can't tell if you're arguing my point or the opposite. Doesn't paying down a loan aggressively (with "free money") to then cash out refinance (thus generating "money that costs you money") cause exactly the problem you're describing? Any idea what Greene was getting at then, or am I just misunderstanding his point? This passage followed a discussion of the benefit of paying extra mortgage payments towards principle, so I can't imagine what else the advice would have meant.

  • Joe VilleneuvePro Member
    Plymouth, MI · Member since 2013 · 13k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    4y

    Paying down a mortgage using your free money, your cash flow, costs you money.  The only cost to you as a rental property owner is what comes out of your pocket.  When you use the rent money to pay the mortgage, as scheduled, you're letting the tenant buy the property for you.  When you use your money, and this includes your cash flow, you're helping your tenant buy your property.  

    Then, to make matters worse, you then decide that you want your money back (REFI), but in order to get it back, you have to buy it from the bank (interest).

    Why?

    Paying down the mortgage on your own home is good.  It saves you money.

    Paying down the mortgage of a rental property (using your money) is bad...and just adding to the cost of that property.

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