Remortgaging my home to release capital for second property
I've had a hard time finding out details on remortgaging Help to Buy loans myself, but found one article (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-3038831/Help-Buy-borrowers-risk-missing-best-remortgage-deals.html) which points out it IS possible.  But also that there aren't many lenders offering such deals out there.  The article lists a number of lenders that do offer these programs, and the extra requirements on equity you might have to have. It sounds like it's going to be critical to know how much equity you've built up.   Since part of the valuation increase will be credited to Help to Buy, you won't get all the £30k increase you've mentioned.  Instead, I believe you'll only get 80%, so £24k.   Which would mean your total equity is £24k + £7k = £31k, plus whatever you might have already paid off.  I'm going to assume there isn't much you've paid off, so will assume just over 18%. (31/170) While this is higher than most of the equity limits mentioned in the above article, keep in mind you'd only get cash out corresponding to the difference between your current equity amount and the equity required for the loan.  For example, if you went with a loan requiring 15% equity to qualify, you'd only have 3% over that, and thus get £5.1k out.   And that's before any fees you might have to pay!  (You might have new origination fees, but you also might have early repayment fees.) Maybe you could pursue a lower money down refi and get to keep more, but the same article points out that Help to Buy might consider that too risky for you, and refuse to allow the refi. I think it's worth shopping around to get actual numbers for your exact situation, but personally it doesn't sound like you have enough equity yet to get much cash out of a refi.  Perhaps you'll get lucky though.  Best of luck!
"There is no guarantee improvements will raise the appraised value.  You also don't want your property tax appraisal to go up if you can avoid it. Since you are talking on the order of $10k I'll assume you're only a few thousand dollars more from getting to 20%. That said, any schemes you might come up with like refinancing or second line of credit will probably cost more in fees than they are worth, unless you can get a much nicer interest rate. Figure out how long you plan to stay there, Evaluate your options (do nothing, principal reduction, refinance for 30, 15, or even an ARM) and figure out your bottom line by comparing everything in a spreadsheet One more thing: if you do pay a substantial amount of extra principal, you can ask the lender to ""rebalance"" which will correct the minimum monthly payment to your remaining term. This will likely incur a fee, but could be helpful in an emergency" You could be in a bit of a bind.  I wouldn't push it any more until you read your loan papers very carefully. Going back to the lender for a refinance after you converted it to a rental (presumably without their knowledge) is risky.  I doubt they'd let you refinance anyway, as the house is underwater. If the loan is performing then I wouldn't think they'd look too hard for reasons to upset the flow of checks by calling the loan due, but if you brazenly advertise the change of property use to them they may reconsider. Read your loan papers carefully to see what they can do before you lean on them too much. As for managing the finances on that property, I'd build up a cushion to deal with the fact that your payment is going to shoot up considerably in year 8.  Also consider building up a side business to get another income stream going to compensate as well.  You have a little time before it shoots up. "I took a second mortgage when I moved house because I had a long-term fixed rate mortgage that would have incurred punitive fees if I had cancelled it. Rather than doing that I took a second mortgage over the same term for the difference. As my second mortgage was with the same lender, they still had ""First Charge"" on the property (This means that in the event of default they have first call on the property to recoup their losses), so the interest rate was not higher (actually it was slightly less than my first mortgage). My case is not that usual, normally a 'second mortgage' is with a separate provider that takes a ""Second Charge"" on the property. The interest rates are normally higher as a result as there is more chance that the lender will not recoup their money in case of a default as the first charge has priority. The second mortgage may still be cheaper than an unsecured loan, as the second charge provides some collateral, this might make it attractive if a sudden expense needs to be covered." Although it may be a little late for you, the real answer is this:  When you close on a mortgage for a primary residence you are affirming (in an affidavit), two intents: Now, these are affirming intentions — not guarantees; so if a homeowner has a change of circumstance, and cannot meet these affirmed intentions, there is almost always no penalty.  Frankly, the mortgage holder's primary concern is you make payments on time, and they likely won't bother with any inquiry.   That being said, should a homeowner have a pattern of buying primary residences, and in less than 1 year converting that primary to a rental, and purchasing a new primary; there will likely be a grounds for prosecution for mortgage fraud. In your specific situation, you cannot legally sign the owner-occupancy affidavit with the intention of not staying for 1 year.  A solution would be to purchase the condo as a second home, or investment; both of which you can still typically get 80% financing.  A second home is tricky, I would ask your lender what their requirements are for 2nd home classification.   Outside that, you could buy the condo as a primary, stay in it for a year, then convert.  If you absolutely had to purchase the 2nd property before 1 year, you could buy it as a primary with a 2 month rent back once you reach 10 months.  Should you need it earlier, just buy the 2nd house as an investment, then once you move in, refinance it as a primary. This last strategy requires some planning ahead and you should explain your intention to the loan officer ahead of time so they can properly price the non-owner occupied loan. You did borrow money for the downpayment.  When you apply for a mortgage loan on your new home, you will be required to list all your assets and all your liabilities. You must disclose the first mortgage as well as the second mortgage on your current condo as well as the monthly payment on each of these loans.  If you took out the second mortgage five years ago, you can truthfully say that you have not taken out any loans within the past year to get cash for the down payment when you apply for a mortgage for purchasing your new house. But, what the lender will be looking at is: Can  the applicants' current income support monthly payments of   $1000 for the first mortgage on the condo plus $300 for the second   mortgage on the condo plus $1500 for the proposed mortgage on the   new house? You might argue that you will be selling that condo soon, or will be renting it out and that the rental income will cover the mortgage payments on the condo, but will the lender give much credence to this? The condo may not sell easily, you might not be able to find a tenant right away, or be able to rent the condo at a high enough rental to cover the costs etc. If you simply save money from your current extra cash flow and use that to make the down payment, the lender will be pondering the question Can  the applicants' current income support monthly payments of   $1000 for the mortgage on the condo plus $1500 for the proposed mortgage on the new house? Which deal will the lender be happier with? If you are uncomfortable saving your extra cash flow in a savings account or CD or investing it in stocks and/or bonds until you need the money for the down-payment on your new house, put that money in a sock under your mattress (and don't smoke in bed!) You say that one property is 65% of the value of the two properties and the other is 35%.  But how much of that do the two of you actually own?  If you have co-signed mortgages on both properties, then your equity is going to be lower.  If you sold both properties, then your take away would be just half of that equity.  And while the 35% property may be less valuable, if you bought it first, it may actually have more equity.   It's the equity that matters here, not the value of the property.  With a mortgage, the bank is more of an owner than you are until you've paid down most of the loan.   You may find that the bank won't agree to a single-owner refinance.  A co-signed mortgage is a lot easier for them to collect, as they can hold either of you responsible for the entire loan.   If you sell the 65% property, then you can pay off any mortgage on that property and use the equity payout from that to buy out your relative on the 35% property.  If you currently have no mortgage, you'd even have cash back.  This is your fewest strings option.   Let's say that you have no mortgage now.  So this mortgage would be the only mortgage on the property.  It's not so much, as 15:65 is 3:13 or 18.75% of the value of the property.  That's more of a home equity loan than a mortgage.  You should be able to get a good rate.  It might reduce your short term profit, but it should be survivable if you have other income.   If you don't have other income, then seriously consider selling the 65% property and diversifying the payout into something else.  E.g. stocks and bonds.   Perhaps your relative would be willing to float you the loan.  That would save you bank fees and closing costs.  Write up a contract and agree to take assignment of the title at payoff.  You'll need to pay a lawyer to write up the contract (paying a modest amount now to cover the various future possibilities), but that should still be cheaper.   There's a certain amount of trust required on both sides, but this gives you some separation.  And of course it takes your relative out of the day-to-day management entirely.  Perhaps the steady flow of cash would provide what they need.   If your relative is willing to remain that involved, that can work.  Note that they may not want to do this, so don't get too attached to the idea.  Be prepared for a no.  This would be a great option for you, as you pretty much get everything you have now.  They get back the time meeting with you to make decisions, but they also give up control over those decisions.  Some people would not like that tradeoff.   The one time I was involved with a professional managing a property for me, the fee was around 7% of the rent.  If that fits your area, you might reasonably charge 5%.  That gives a discount for family and not being a professional.   There's a relatively easy way to find out what fits your area.  Look around and see what companies offer multiple listings.  Call until you find a couple that will do management for you.  Get quotes for managing your properties.  Now you'll know the amounts.   The big failing though is that this may not describe the issue that your relative has.  If the real problem is that the two of you have different approaches to property management, then making you the only decision maker may be the wrong direction.  This is certainly financially feasible, but it still may not be the right solution for your relationship.   If you get a no on this, I'd recommend moving on to other solutions immediately.  This may simply be too favorable to you. and I need to upgrade my current home to a larger, longer-term property Would selling your current home give you (at least) a 20% DP on the new home? Take additional cash out of the refinance of the first home to accelerate saving Dittoing D Stanley, that makes no sense. Purchase and move to a second property of greater cost and value to first You'll need to find the new house at the same time you're selling the existing home, and write the new-home purchase contract in such a way that you can back out in case the purchaser of your home backs out. "As others have said, congratulations on saving up 75K in cash while seemingly not neglecting other areas of personal finance.  Considering that only 15% of Americans have more than 10K saved this is quite a feat.  source If you sell your old house, and buy the new one you will still be in really good financial shape.  No need to comment further. Renting your current home and buying a new home introduces a great amount of risk into your life.  The risk in this case is mitigated by cash.  As others have pointed out, you will need to save a lot more to remove an acceptable amount of risk. Here is what I see: So without paying off your existing house I would see a minimum savings account balance of about double of what you have now.  Once you purchase the new house, the amount would be reduced by the down payment, so you will only have about 50K sitting around. The rental emergency fund may be a little light depending on how friendly your state is to landlords.  Water heaters break, renters don't pay, and properties can sit vacant.  Also anytime you move into a new business there will be mistakes made that are solved by writing checks.  Do you have experience running rentals?   You might be better off to sell your existing home, and move into a more expensive home than what you are suggesting. You can continue to win at money without introducing a new factor into your life. Alternatively, if you are ""bitten by the real estate bug"" you could mitigate a lot risk by buying a property that is of similar value to your current home or even less expensive.  You can then choose which home to live in that makes the most financial sense.  For example some choose to live in the more dilapidated home so they can do repairs as time permits. To me upgrading the home you live in, and renting an expensivish home for a rental is too much to do in such a short time frame.  It is assuming far too much risk far to quickly for a person with your discipline.  You will get there." When I purchased my house I struggled with this same idea.  I felt sick to my stomach signing a contract stating how much money I now owe a bank.  However, the lawyer I was using put it in terms that eased the nausea a little (I still hate owing that much money - but it's a little more palatable).   His words, paraphrased: At the end of the day, you have to have a place to stay.  Your mortgage payment is replacing your rent except in this case, you're paying yourself instead of someone else.  You lose a little flexibility in being able to up and move with relative ease.  However, you've lived in apartments, you know that rent almost only goes up.  Your mortgage will not.   He wrote out some numbers and basically showed that everything evened out except mortgage payments will give you property as opposed to paying for someone else's property. To answer your question though - others have already stated - you'll get a better return in the stock market (usually).  But unless you're really really bad at real estate evaluation - you should make some money off your house when you decide to sell. The Globe and Mail has an interesting article on what you can do with your RRSPs. Be aware that the article is from early 2011 and rules change. They describe holding your own mortgage inside your RRSP. That is, if you have $100,000 inside your RRSP already and your remaining mortgage is $100,000, you can use that money to pay off your mortgage, then pay back the money at interest, generating a tax-deferred profit inside your RRSP. That approach may be viable, though you'd want to talk to your accountant first. I'd be very cautious about loaning money to someone else for a second mortgage using my RRSP, though. Second mortgages are inherently risky, so this is a very speculative investment. Once you make an RRSP contribution, that space is used up (barring a couple of exceptions such as the life-long learning plan). So, let's say you used $100,000 of your RRSP to loan to someone for a second mortgage. Any interest payments should be sheltered inside the RRSP (substantial benefit), but if the person defaults on the second mortgage (which you should expect to be a significant possibility), you've lost your entire $100,000 contribution room (as well as, obviously, the $100,000 that you loaned out). I can't tell you whether or not it makes sense to invest in risky second-mortgage loans and I can't tell you whether, if you choose to do so, it definitely should be done inside an RRSP. There are substantial risks in the loan and there are both costs and benefits to doing so inside an RRSP. Hopefully, though, I've helped you understand the questions you should be asking yourself. "Taking out your equity when refinancing means that you take out a new loan for the full value of your house (perhaps less 20% as a down payment on the new mortgage, otherwise you'll be paying insurance), pay off your old lender, and keep the rest for yourself. The result is much the same as using as a HELOC or home equity loan (or a second mortgage), except it's all rolled into a single new mortgage. The advantage is that the interest rate on a first mortgage is going to be lower than on HELOC or equivalent, and the equity requirements may be lower (e.g. a HELOC may only let you borrow against the amount of equity that exceeds 25% or 30%, while a new mortgage will require you only to have 20% equity).  This is especially attractive to those whose homes have appreciated significantly since they bought them, especially if they have a lot of high-interest debt (e.g. credit cards) they want to pay off. Of course, rolling credit card debt into a 30-year mortgage isn't actually paying it off, but the monthly payments will be a lot lower, and if you're lucky and your home appreciates further, you can pay it off fully when you sell the property and still have paid a lot less interest. The downside is that you have turned unsecured debt into secured debt, which puts your home at risk if you find yourself unable to pay. In your case, you don't yet have even 20% equity in your home, so I wouldn't recommend this.  :-) Equity is simply the difference between the amount you still owe on your home and the amount you'd get if you were to sell it. Until you do sell it, this amount is tentative, based on the original purchase price and, perhaps, an intervening appraisal that shows that the property has appreciated. That is really all that it is and there's nothing magic about it, except that since you own your home, you have equity in it, while as a renter, you would not. It used to be (decades ago, when you needed 20% down to get a mortgage) that selling was the only time you'd be able to do anything with the equity in your home. Now you can ""take it out"" as described above (or borrow against it) thanks to various financial products. It is sometimes tempting to consider equity roughly equivalent to ""profit."" But some of it is your own money, contributed through the down payment, your monthly principal payment, and improvements you have made -- so ""cashing out"" isn't all profit, it's partly just you getting your own money back. And there are many additional expenses involved in owning a home, such as interest, property taxes, maintenance, utilities, and various fees, not to mention the commissions when you buy or sell, which the equity calculation doesn't consider. Increasing equity reflects that you own a desirable property in a desirable location, that you have maintained and maybe even improved it, that you are financially responsible (i.e., paying your mortgage, taxes, etc.), and that your financial interests are aligned with your neighbors. All those things feel pretty good, and they should. Otherwise, it is just a number that the banks will sometimes let you borrow against.  :-)" You have the 2 properties, and even though the value of property B is less than the amount you owe on it hopefully you have some equity in propery A. So if you do have enough equity in property A, why don't you just go to the one lender and get both property A and B refinanced under the same mortgage. This way hopefully the combined equity in both properties would be enough to cover the full amount of the loan, and you have the opportunity to refinance at favourable rate and terms. Sounds like you are in the USA with an interest rate of 3.25%, I am in Australia and my mortgage rates are currently between 6.3% to 6.6%. Like @littleadv, I don't consider a mortgage on a primary residence to be a low-risk investment.  It is an asset, but one that can be rather illiquid, depending on the nature of the real estate market in your area.  There are enough additional costs associated with home-ownership (down-payment, insurance, repairs) relative to more traditional investments to argue against a primary residence being an investment. Your question didn't indicate when and where you bought your home, the type of home (single-family, townhouse, or condo) the nature of your mortgage (fixed-rate or adjustable rate), or your interest rate, but since you're in your mid-20s, I'm guessing you bought after the crash.  If that's the case, your odds of making a profit if/when you sell your home are higher than they would be if you bought in the 2006/2007 time-frame.  This is no guarantee of course.  Given the amount of housing stock still available, housing prices could still fall further.  While it is possible to lose money in all sorts of investments, the illiquid nature of real estate makes it a lot more difficult to limit your losses by selling. If preserving principal is your objective, money market funds and treasury inflation protected securities are better choices than your home.  The diversification your financial advisor is suggesting is a way to manage risk.  Not all investments perform the same way in a given economic climate.  When stocks increase in value, bonds tend to decrease (and vice versa).  Too much money in a single investment means you could be wiped out in a downturn. "The problem here can be boiled down to that fact you are attempting to obtain a loan without collateral.  There are times it can be done, but you have to have a really good relationship with a banker.  Your question suggests that avenue has been exhausted. You are looking for an investor, but you are offering something very speculative.  Suppose an investor gives you 20K, what recourse does he have if you do not pay the terms of the loan?  From what income will this be paid from?  What event will trigger the capability to make a balloon payment?    Now if you can find a really handy guy that really needs a place to live could you swap rent for repairs?  Maybe.  Perhaps you buy the materials, and he does the roof in exchange for 6 months worth of rent or whatever. If you approached me with this ""investment"", the thing that would raise a red flag is why don't you have 20K to do this yourself?  If you don't how will you be able to make payments?  For example of the items you mentioned: That is a weekend worth of work and some pretty inexpensive materials.  Why does money need to be borrowed for this? A weekend worth of demo, and $500 worth of material and another weekend to build something serviceable for a rental.  Why does money need to be borrowed for this? 2K?  Why does money need to be borrowed for this? This can be expensive, but most roofing companies offer financing.  Also doing some of the work yourself can save a ton of money.  Demoing an old roof is typically about 1/3 of the roofing cost and is technically simple, but physically difficult. So besides the new roof, you could have a lot of your list solved for less than 3K and three weekends worth of work.  You are attempting to change this into a rental, not the Taj Mahal." It depends on how much equity you have in your home. Scenario 1: Your home is worth $100K, and your current mortgage is for $100K (or more which means you are underwater.) In this case you can't get a 2nd mortgage because: That being said, you can use different portions of equity in your home as collateral for multiple mortgages, as long as none of the equity overlaps, but you may need permission from the primary mortgage bank first, for example: Scenario 2: Your home is worth $100K, and your current mortgage is for $80K meaning you currently have $20K in equity. It is possible to get a 2nd mortgage or home equity line of credit for $20K. As a side note, if your loan agent is telling you to use a different bank, it sounds like she is trying (and willing) to do something shady. If you are in Scenario 1, I'd find a new agent.