already own a home

Cindy,

Why can't you touch the equity unless you sell? You may be able to take MORE out of it by refinancing than if you sold it outright.

Rina

Because it is in home financing directtly through my broker.

Cindy,

Can you give a little more information? I'm not really an expert on the finance part, but I'm sure someone on the site can help you. It's a very good place to get answers. We all have experience in different areas.

Good luck and best wishes,

Rina

I thought of refinancing but am not sure if wva is 4 me.

yeah Rina, I am not sure if i want to stay here in west virginia. Berkeley springs is kinda like nothing here. totally country but not many stores or anything. Have you read alot of my articles or topics Rina. Do you have any ideas that would be beneficial for my little family. I am a single mom with 2 yr old and 11 yr old. Have plenty of equity and very new to this. Thank you Rina. Someone please help me.Cindy

also Rina i am on soc sec disability and would love to pursue real estate because oh gosh the sky is the limit with that. How did you start? Did you have any money or own your own home and sold it first to make your profit or how did you take off with this? Thanks so much, I appreciaie you help soooooooo much. You desrve to be paid for your comments like as well as sully and cbrpower .Cindy

I think the first decision is where to live. If you are going to stay there then re-finance your home into a long term, fixed rate loan. I am a HUGE believer in matching the duration of your assets and liabilities.

If not, then sell it and use that as a down payment for a new home and an investment property.

GL,

Mark

Thank you , i intend to invest my money probably in duplexes or triplexes. Thanks so much for your input i appreciate that Mark. Meanwhile until i get to the settlement table with this home, i want to go ahead and do something maybe with a lease purchase but i don't understand how to go about it. Do i phone someone who has a lease purchase and put it in my name, or am i off on that one. I want to make this first step but feel like i have to know what i am doing first. Is this a bad idea or good? Thanks so much. Cindy

Hi Cindy. We haven't forgotten you.

I agree with the advice that both Mark and cbr (in his guestbook) gave you. You might want to just stay where you are for awhile if you are able to. I see that your house payments are pretty high. Are you comfortable with those? When you say your house is under contract, what do you mean? I appreciate your determination in asking questions and wanting to find answers for your situation. You seem like a mom who really wants to make a future for her family. If you don't feel comfortable telling more of your personal information here, you can send me a private message and I will try to help you. This might not be the proper forum to proceed in. (What do you think, dgadmin?) If you're OK with posting on the forum, I'm sure everyone here will be willing to give advice, and maybe others in your position will find answers, as well, or be able to share their experiences with you.

I wish you all the best,
Rina

Hello Rina, Thanks for responding to me. Rina i love my home. It is 3,650 sq feet approx. Split foyer on 2.16 acres with full finished basement. Have lots of toy clutter HaHA! anyway me and my babies love our home but we are sooooooooooooo lonely. They don't have anyone to play with and with the thought of my making the 65,100 is really making me excited. I don't want to make any mistakes though. I guess i am scared to make the first step because of not knowing which move is best or where to begin, I hate repeating my self so i won't. I am sure you have read my topics and posts. How did you get started? Foreclosures if so how do you first approach them or if it was lease purchase how do i do that. When you do a lease purchase Rina, Do i actually fill the application out in my name as if it is mine, then rent it out or what. See i don't know. Cindy and lost in west virginia

Cindy,
your home sounds beautiful.
Is the house in your name right now? When you say it's under contract, what do you mean? Do you know what the appraised value is right now? I'm just wondering what the numbers are that led you to the amount of equity ($65,100) you feel you have in your home.
I have to say I have not tried any of the strategies of assigning things, so I wouldn't be able to help in that area. The way we started out was, we took $5000 we had made on a job and, instead of finishing our house with it, I looked for the best deal on a cheap fixer-upper I could find. We actually used the money to make down-payments on two properties, started renting them out, and the rest is history (15 years worth). We didn't use the cash flow to live on, we just kept re-investing and that is how we multiplied our investment.
Hope this helps some. I'll chat with you again later when I get back to a computer.

Keep believing.

Rina

Hi Cindy! Do not renew another baloon contract with the mortgage broker as you already knows it only benefit them. You also mentioned that you and your son are very lonely and wanted a better life for both of you. If your not happy there, then move to where makes you happy and sell it then maximize the equity for a down payment for another home and invest the rest as Mark indicated. Good luck to you and your with your investment needs.

Good luck to you in all that you do.

(Mine was 835 a couple of months ago).

Take a deep breath you guys.

Rina

So far, I've been really encouraged on this site. I hope everyone can walk away with that same feeling.

Sincerely,
Rina

Tip: If you want to have a one on one conversation or a heated debate, use the Private Message (Send PM) feature.

In direct response to the OP so we can wrap this one up:
I would imagine you stand to profit more by holding out, otherwise the general consensus would not be this is a buyers market, be it renting or living there. You are basically just shuffling money if you sell now and to buy another property, unless the new property can yield instant equity and the existing property needs to be sold to acquire it. If you feel like your local market is still moving lower without a near future (longer than you can stand to keep it) then selling might be ideal. This is your residence, so only you can decide if you base your decision on investment principles or personal preference.

If your are approaching your balloon payment deadline then you better refinance regardless ASAP if you do not expect to stay there for a long time. Odds are rates are likely close, if not better than your current rate on top of it.

If you already know the answer to your own question, then we can move on. If not, post your question specifically with the absolute details so you can get absolute answers.

Thanks,
-DGadmin