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#148: Welcome to a special episode of Ask Paula!\n Today I\u2019m answering questions about real estate investing, and I\u2019ve brought a special guest on the show to join me.\n His name is Lucas Hall, and he\u2019s a landlord with 5 properties in three locations (D.C., Virginia and Colorado). He\u2019s also the founder of Landlordology and head of investor relations with Cozy. We met about five or six years ago through blogging about rental properties, and I invited him on the show today to answer questions alongside me.\n Anonymous asks:\n If you have significant equity in a home due to market appreciation, what\u2019s the best way to leverage the value of this equity? Should you sell? Refinance? Something else?\n Here\u2019s a quick snapshot of the answer:\n You have three options: sell, cash-out refinance, or take out a HELOC.\n If you\u2019re unhappy with the property, sell it. There\u2019s no reason to hang onto an undesirable or underperforming property. If you choose to sell, use a 1031 exchange to defer taxes on the capital gains and use the proceeds to purchase another property. Be aware, however, that the rules regarding a 1031 exchange are onerous, and there\u2019s a chance that you might either miss the cutoff or you may be forced into trading one mediocre property for another.\n That said, wanting to tap equity is not a sufficient reason to sell.\n If you\u2019re happy with the property, keep it and either use a cash-out refi or HELOC to tap the equity. On today\u2019s episode, Lucas and I discuss the pro\u2019s and con\u2019s of both of these strategies, and explain which one is our favorite. (Lucas prefers the HELOC and I prefer the cash-out refi; on the episode you\u2019ll hear each of us explain why.)\n Richard from Massachusetts asks:\n I\u2019ve been listening to this podcast regularly, and thanks to this podcast I\u2019ve opened a Roth IRA. I\u2019ve saved $54,000 and I\u2019m interested in investing in a Class B or Class C neighborhood in an out-of-state location. How can I find out if a neighborhood is Class B/C without visiting it?\n Catherine asks:\n I\u2019m 27 and need investing advice. I make $75,000 per year and I have $60,000 in retirement savings. I max out an HSA. I have $12,000 in an emergency fund. I live in Los Angeles and I\u2019d like to invest in real estate, but I don\u2019t want to travel to another state. I\u2019ve been thinking about Roofstock; what are your thoughts?\n Anonymous in Atlanta asks:\n My wife and I have $500,000 in savings, in addition to our 401k. We keep $130,000 of this in the market. We had an advisor that was charging a 1.6% fee, and we recently fired him. What should we do with the remainder of the cash in our savings accounts? Should we put this in Vanguard funds? I\u2019d also like to get into real estate, but many homes in Atlanta don\u2019t meet the one percent rule. Should we look at foreclosure auctions? Should we look further outside the city? We\u2019re in our early 30\u2019s and would like to retire in around 15 years.\n We answer these questions in today\u2019s episode. Enjoy!\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices