Unlocking Home Equity: Strategies and Insights for Investors

It’s the situation every real estate investor wants to be in: your house just appraised for more than you expected. Now, you’ve got some home equity added to your net worth, but how do you use it? Should you keep it in the property and maintain low leverage, or use home equity to scale your real estate portfolio more quickly? We’re answering common real estate questions like this one and a lot more in today’s show!

James Dainard joins the show as our veteran real estate investor, owning hundreds of rental units, flipping thousands of houses, and lending millions of dollars. He started as a rookie during the Great Financial Crisis, and today, he’s sharing his hard-earned lessons so you don’t have to make the same mistakes. We’re touching on:

What to do with your home equity when your house appraises high

How to estimate rehab costs on a renovation or house flip 

Becoming a private money lender (serious passive income!)

Interior design 101, even if you have zero experience in home renovations 

Whether we should finally kill the 1% rule in real estate (maybe it’s time)

Got an investing question? Ask yours on the BiggerPockets Forums! 

In This Episode We Cover

How to use home equity to invest (and whether you should with 7% mortgage rates)

Estimating renovation costs on your next rehab or house flip (for free!)

Interior design on a budget and how to build a “spec list” of what your house flip needs

Private money lending for beginners and how to (passively) make serious cash flow

The 1% rule explained and why it isn’t so safe in 2025 

And So Much More!

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