What’s the best way to tap equity without selling?

[Matt Fleischer]

Is the best way to tap equity without selling an interest-only line of credit, reverse mortgage, or something else? Here’s an oversimplified version of the situation:

Bob owns 5 Class A single family rental properties worth a total of $1,000,000 in the Oklahoma City metro area. All are paid off. They generate an NOI of $50,000/year. Bob's cost of living is $65,000/year. Bob would like to tap his equity every year to cover the difference between the net cash flow generated by his rental properties and his cost of living, without selling any properties.

What’s the best way to tap that equity so that it lasts as long as possible before the $50,000/year is totally tapped out and Bob has to re-enter the “pay down” phase of his properties?

What financial product best achieves this? I understand it will depend on their varying interest rates, among other things, but generally speaking what avenues should Bob look into?

Maybe it would be best to simply take out as big of a 15-30 year mortgage as $50,000/year can service, invest it all in the stock market, and then annually withdraw $65,000 until the stock market money runs out.

Any and all ideas are welcome!

[Joe Villeneuve]

Why doesn't he want to sell?  He's losing a ton of money by not selling.

Start with the most basic of math problems on this property.

$1M in equity = 20 years of Cash Flow perfection,...

then go on from there to:

$1M in equity = $1M in property value.

                      vs.

$1M in equity = $5M in PV