Currently own home and have refinanced, what now?

[Matt Hall]

Hi, have currently owned my one family home for about 7 years now, still needs a few thing but I’m pretty good shape overall. I refinanced last year to a 3.1% interest rate. Am looking to get started on finding another property. Question is can I use my current equity I have now towards finishing here (roof and possibly floors) and finding another property without having to refinance again? Furthermore how far should I go preparing current home to rent? Any help would be sincerely appreciated, thanks for reading.

[Benjamin Aaker]

I agree with @Charles Granja and @Eliott Elias. This is a great situation for a HELOC. You should be able to pull 80% of your 180k or $144k out of it. The best part of the HELOC is that you don't have to, though. It can just sit there, not charging you interest, but ready to go in a few hours' notice, when you are ready to buy the new property. Or, use it to make your current place rent-ready. If you have been living in the place and keeping it nice, you shouldn't need to do too much to get it ready for a tenant. A coat of paint goes a long way to sprucing it up. Tidy up the yard too. You are in a great position to launch your RE career. Best of luck to you.