I was dead set on starting to invest in real estate since I moved and have one house paid off but couldn't get a loan against this house since COVID started.. now i don't know if I should just sell it to get a 2.7 rate at 15 years for my new house or just wait till this COVID situation ends.. thx guys .. help is much appreciated

Hi @Jay Pina , welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!

I would push more broadly to find a lender that will loan against the house - either by a cash-out refinance or a HELOC.

Personally I'd definitely want to take advantage of the current rates (but I'd also definitely get a 30-year mortgage instead of a 15-year since I'm viewing fixed-rate mortgages as an inflation hedge).

I'd say refi or HELOC on your current home and rent it out while you take some of the liberated cash and put 3.5-20% down on your new home.

Thanks for the advice.. I’ll try more broadly ... I’d hate to have to sell my the house I moved out of, also I’m banking on the economy jumping back up next year. 

@Jay Pina

Are they giving you a reason you can't borrow against the house? 

I'm with @Will Fraser .  I'd look around a little more to try to borrow against the house.  I'd use those funds to put a down on my new owner occ and as many other investment properties as you can.  You might be able to go from 1 house to 3 or 4 depending on the numbers.

Good luck!

A couple banks told me that the market was so uncertain and it was too early to say when they’d start lending again cuz of COVID. This was about a little under 2 months ago.. I’m currently checking out local banks instead of national banks like chase 

Thx for the help! 

I am pretty upset.  I have excellent credit and a job and I just wanted to refi my current home and it has been 3 months!  Bank told me it was due to a permit violation on the home!  I had the permit taken care of 2 years ago and still they say they are "looking into it".  It makes me angry that I just kept waiting, I guess I will try to start over and find a new bank to borrow from. Suggestions?

@Gayle Eisner   That's a bummer to hear.  I'm trying to refinance some rentals and it seems to be going fairly well so far.  I'm not sure if they could help.  You can pm me if you want their info.

You might want to make some relationships with local banks instead of the big boys though. I think they sometimes are more able to offer flexibility (with a price, of course).

Good luck!