All Forum Posts by: Joannie Torio

I have 2 investment properties and 1 owner occupied residence that I live in. I have one investment property that has more equity and appreciation than the other. I would like to buy more properties, however, with the market similar to 2005, I'm not sure of what would be beneficial to me. One of my properties has appreciated from $119K to $168K and I owe about $75K on it, with a low interest loan. My other property has appreciated less, $143- $162K, and I still owe $111K with a higher interest loan. Not sure of what I should do, should I consider a HELOC, do a 1031 exchange on one of the investment property's, refinance the higher interest with the less equity property? Any advice is appreciated.

Ok, thanks for the insight!  I need as much perspective I can get. 

I used to live in So Cal and did my first investments out of state before buying an owner occupied property in HI. Purchasing outside of So Cal is going to be cheaper than any LA area. The first things I looked at was: no state tax, developing areas (especially where Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe's, Michael's) strip centers were being built. I looked at the rental market, if it was close to military bases, colleges, or big companies were moving out of CA to a cheaper state to run their business. I ran all the numbers to make sure I could cover at least 3-6 months of PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance), just in case it didn't get rented out as fast as I wanted it to. I asked for property manager referrals and expect to pay around 10% prop mgmt fee. Location is key and the rental market is important. Hope this helps...

Aloha!  I am "somewhat" of a new investor and not...  This is a 2 part question...

I purchased investment properties in 2004 and 2005 with the intentions of buying and holding. One property in the Dallas area has been refinanced into a lower rate and has grown a little bit in equity. My other property is close to Nashville is still upside down and I can't refinance the ARM loan to a lower rate because it's still upside down, that is at 7% currently. I purchased in HI and equity has appreciated to a healthy level, however, I have only owned this house and lived in it for 18 months. I have the opportunity to cash out refi around $30K on my HI house, but am a little nervous because it's the house I live in. I had heard in the past to pick one investment property to cash out refi a little bit at a time to buy more investment properties when I can. What are your thoughts on cash out/refi'ing on an owner occupied property? Then, if I cash out/refi some should I pay down part of the Nashville mortgage so I can lock in a lower rate and refi to pay less interest. Both investment properties are currently rented out are breaking even. I would like to be able to have more passive income for later. Need advice from all of you....mahalo!