<prompt> Human: Hi Everyone.My wife and I live in Baltimore. We recently had our 3rd kid, and are looking to move from our current 3BR house to a larger 4BR house. My wife and I make a combined 150K per year, currently owe about 50K on our current house, and have about 100K of equity in the place. We have 2 small car loans that total about 11K, but other than were debt-free. One of those loans will be paid off this year.Now that our kids are getting older, were feeling the need to move to a safer, nicer, and more expensive neighborhood. The houses were looking at are in the 350K to 400K range.We used to have a nice nest egg saved from our DINK years, but over the last several years that nest egg has been eroded a bit by unexpected home repairs, vehicle replacements, etc. My wife also took a few years off of work to raise our kids, which didnt help. So, we only have about 10K in cash currently saved up. Were saving again, but the reality is that its going to take us a LONG time to save up the down payment wed need for the next house. Meanwhile, our kids are only getting older, and were really sick of our current neighborhood. Im also leery of trying to buy a house on contingency of selling my current one. Ive heard lots of stories about how that process can, and often does, fall through. So... the idea Ive been considering is to re-finance my current home and take out about 50K in equity to use for the down payment on the next house. We can then shop for a new house at our leisure, with the cash in-hand. When we do buy the next place and move, Ill then rent out the 1st house for an amount that covers the mortgage, taxes, upkeep, etc. If, after a year, I decide that I dont like being a landlord, I can always just sell the place.I talked this over with my older sister, whos more saavy than me in these matters, and she thinks its a good idea, but I figured Id see what you guys think as well. Thanks for reading!  <response>: My worry would be 2 house payments, 2 car payments, all the bills associated with both houses, and the possibility of having no renter. Its a lot of risk. I understand the desire to get passive income but youre safer off just selling your house and buying the new one with a heft 80K down and adding 20 k to savings roughly. That gives you a solid downpayment, less risk with having difficulties finding a decent tenant who pays the rent on time, and less risk to your familys security. 