I currently am stationed outside of the USA and am wondering what to do with my equity. I own 2 homes in the DC area and have a total of about 400k equity on one and 100k equity on the other. I make about 1k a month profit off the homes and am wondering what my next step should be. I am thinking about investing in cheap homes in Alabama and my goal is long term cash flow. What is the most conservative methods for tapping into the equity and slowly building my property portfolio.

You could sell, or do cash out refinances. You will need to leave 20-25% equity in the property on a cash out refinance. Also keep in mind the price on a refinance appraisal is typically going to be more conservative than the actual market value of the property.

I’m a big fan of HELOCs. Depending on the bank, set up fees can be minimal. Some will even give you a credit line up to 90%+ of home value.

It would allow you to access a lot of that equity to use for down payments or cash buys.

The downside is that HELOCs are usually floating rate.

That’s probably the easiest way to minimize fees, keep your properties performing, and expand the portfolio.