Hey Michael, congratulations on taking this important first step!

Congratulations!

Congratulations on your first deal!

Congratulations!

Hi Robert-Congratulations on having equity in your primary house and you wonder the best way to access the equity to buy your next house and if you should house hack and live in the next house and rent the current one out.Recommend getting a home equity line of credit (HELOC) as you can use the line of credit as needed and only pay on the part you use.If market rents cover your payments with some positive cashflow (ideally with a property manager), then renting your primary after getting the HELOC may make sense.House hacking by buying the next house and living in it with low money down is an excellent way to buy your next property.To Your Success!

Refinances often get pushed to the bottom of the pile behind purchases, which creates timing crunches — especially at the end of the month.Credit Score Still MattersAnother misconception I hear all the time is: “It’s an asset-based loan — why does my credit matter?”

While saving more will always help in the long run, you don't necessarily need to wait until you have a huge pile of cash to start investing, especially with your 780+ credit score.

Welcome to BP, and congratulations on embarking on your real estate journey! 

Entire major cities *poof* gone, like the hand of God descended and just left piles of bricks. 

@Rene Van Wonderen congratulations on having so much gain to worry about.Her are some point in no particular order.You should be entitled to the homeowner gain exclusion of up to $500K for a married couple is you have lived there 2 out of the last 5 yearsloan amounts borrowed or due have nothing to do with the calculation of the gain.