I posted the five day vacate letter and she has no intention of leaving.

We'd really not like to leave and I see REI as a way to hopefully keep us in the city.

So you have to leave 20% in the house and one could with draw the rest.Unless you fall under the capital gains exception I recommend you look into a 1031, so you don't have to pay tax now.

Depending on you exact situation, your payment could go down.As far as I know there is no tax implication for taking money out of your house in a re-fi, it is your equity, you are just unlocking it with a mortgage & the bank is collecting the interest for providing that service.I don't think I would pay down the rental, if it is making money the great, leave that one alone.  

It took time, wouldn't leave that practice for anything.Here's a tip, whenever you close, try and specify your realty lawyer for closing every time.

Investors are buying at 80% in the Houston market and that leaves only around a 10% ROI on each deal.

that is the crux of the matter... when jobs leave people leave with them and like we have out here in the West.. ( Ghost Towns)  its just normal commerce at play.

Since we plan to sell and leave CA in the next few years (might even sell the triplex within the next year as part of a 1031), we figure we struck a pretty good balance between cash flow and appreciation.Since then, we've bought rentals in AZ and CO. 

If they told me something that I knew waany true I pretty much wanted to get up and leave right there. 

They will likely leave themselves wiggle room but at least it's another data point.