Creative ways to tap into significant equity tied up in a rental property?

[Shaya Piispanen]

We own a rental property in Austin, Texas currently valued at about $1.3M. We purchased it in 2001 as our primary residence for $1.2M, using $600,000 cash and financing the rest since we didn’t qualify for a jumbo loan at the time. Our interest rate is roughly 2.8%.

We’ve since relocated and have had a reliable tenant in place since June 2025. We’d like to keep the property as a rental, but access approximately $650,000 in equity to reinvest in other properties or securities.

Would it make sense to transfer the property into our real estate business's LLC? What are the most effective ways to unlock this equity? In our situation, would refinancing or selling even be practical options?

Appreciate any insights from those who’ve done something similar!

*please note, this property is specifically in Lakeway - Airbnb/short-term rental would not be a good option in this residential neighborhood

[Jay Hurst]

Quote from @Shaya Piispanen:

We own a rental property in Austin, Texas currently valued at about $1.3M. We purchased it in 2001 as our primary residence for $1.2M, using $600,000 cash and financing the rest since we didn’t qualify for a jumbo loan at the time. Our interest rate is roughly 2.8%.

We’ve since relocated and have had a reliable tenant in place since June 2025. We’d like to keep the property as a rental, but access approximately $650,000 in equity to reinvest in other properties or securities.

Would it make sense to transfer the property into our real estate business's LLC? What are the most effective ways to unlock this equity? In our situation, would refinancing or selling even be practical options?

Appreciate any insights from those who’ve done something similar!

*please note, this property is specifically in Lakeway - Airbnb/short-term rental would not be a good option in this residential neighborhood

You can access the equity by either a closed in second mortgage or a open ended line if credit. That way you leave the first mortgage in place. Once you put into the LLC this will limit the options to only the closed in second.