*New Member* Scaling My Rental Portfolio – Advice on Leveraging Equity in Oxford, MS

[Ryan Ramola]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently in Oxford, MS and looking to scale my rental property portfolio. I wanted to share where I’m at and get some feedback on the best next steps.

I have one rental property—a detached condo—that’s currently performing well but is rented under market value:

Property Details:

• Type: Detached condo in a desirable development

• Current Rent: $1,500/mo (Market rent is ~$1,800/mo)

• Mortgage: $117,000 at 5.375%

• Recent Comp Sale: $320,000

• Cash Flow: After PITI and HOA, it cash flows ~$530/mo

• Equity: ~ $180,000 based on comp sales

My Goal:
I want to put this equity to work and scale my portfolio. The challenge in my area is finding properties where I can force appreciation—deals are tight and prices have already run up. So I’m exploring two main options to access the equity:

1. Cash-Out Refinance – Refi into a new loan and extract equity while keeping the new PITI close to what I'm currently paying, to maintain positive cash flow.

2. HELOC – Use a home equity line of credit to access funds for a down payment on another property (not a full purchase), potentially maintaining the current loan.

Both strategies would be used to fund a down payment on the next property, ideally one that cash flows well even if I can’t force value immediately.

Questions for the group:

• Has anyone here successfully scaled in a tighter market like Oxford where value-add deals are rare?

• Would you lean more toward a HELOC or a cash-out refi in this case?

• Are there other creative ways you’ve leveraged equity to scale in a similar situation?

Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated. I’m eager to grow but want to be smart about how I deploy the equity I’ve built.

Thanks!

[Josh Kesselman]

Pushing you to think out of the box...if the market is tight and you have room to increase rent, may be the best way to scale is not in quantity, but in quality.  Consider if you want to run the risk of stretching yourself too thin on leveraging two properties if the market isn't showing opportunities for appreciation.  Instead of looking at two leveraged properties, maybe the best use of the equity you have locked up is to trade what you've currently got for something that could outperform it in the long haul, and be more tasty for a lender to refinance when the timing is right.