385: How to Use Equity in Your Home to Reach Financial Freedom Faster

Your home equity could be the secret sauce to earlier retirement. With so many homeowners and rental property investors across the nation sitting on hundreds of thousands in home equity, one asks, “what if you used this trapped equity to build wealth?” And although most homeowners won’t want to sell their primary residences, refinance into higher mortgage rates, or risk taking out a high-priced HELOC, rental property owners are in the perfect position to use their massive equity positions to upgrade to bigger, better investments. We brought on Chris Lopez, Denver-based investor and agent, to explain. Chris has been able to build a sizable real estate portfolio quite quickly, but even he admits to starting a little later. After working most of his career as an internet marketer turned day trader, Chris gave it all up to go head-first into real estate as an investor-friendly agent and investor. And, as a Denver investor, he’s seen homes he bought just a few years ago EXPLODE in value, and many other investors feel the same. So, if you’re in Austin, Boise, Raleigh, Phoenix, or any other real estate boom markets, it can seem as if you’re sitting on a pile of wealth that can’t be touched. But you’d be wrong. In this episode, Chris walks through how homeowners and real estate investors can unlock the “trapped” equity in their homes. He goes through when to buy, sell, or refi and how to use the BiggerPockets Rental Property Calculatorto decide the best move. Chris knows that not every property is worth selling/upgrading, but if you trade a few lackluster properties for cash-flowing ones, you could reach your retirement goals YEARS faster, with more money coming in and less stress. So, want to unlock your home’s equity and speed up your path to early retirement? Stick around! In This Episode We Cover Home equity explained and how to use it to build wealth even faster  When to buy, sell, or refinance and how to calculate the best option for you Cap rates and using this simple metric to decide whether a rental property is worth keeping HELOCs (home equity lines of credit) and which banks will offer them on rental properties Chris’ five-step framework to reassess and upgrade your rental portfolio When to cash-out refinance and whether or not doing so makes sense with today’s high interest rates  And So Much More! Links from the Show BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group BiggerPockets Forums Finance Review Guest Onboarding Scott's Instagram Mindy's Twitter Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Apply to Be a Guest on The Money Show Podcast Talent Search! Subscribe to The “On The Market” YouTube Channel Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget Finance Friday: Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck with 9 Rental Properties Chris Lopez Profile Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-385 Interested in learning more about today's sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Check out our sponsor page! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices