Any moves to make while I wait for the real estate market to cool?

[Elementary]

Situation: I sold my home in 2020 and have been renting since. I do not plan to buy for at least another year for various reasons, including inflated real estate prices where I live due to a mass exodus from the nearby city. While I'm waiting, I have a large cash balance just sitting earning pennies. I'm wondering if I should be applying it to any of my remaining debts or investing at least a portion of it somewhere. Any advice from this forum is very welcome.

Cash:

• Online Savings: $200k (proceeds from home sale / down payment for next home)
• Emergency Fund: $60k (equal to about 9 months of living expenses)
• Regular Savings: $10k
• TOTAL CASH: $270k

Investments:

• 401k: $290k (contributing max each paycheck)
• Roth IRA: $125k (fully funded for 2020 and 2021)
• HSA Investment: $25k (fully funded for 2020 and 2021)
• Allocations: 70% US index / 20% international index / 10% bonds
• TOTAL INVESTMENTS: $440k

Debts:

• Auto Loan: $25k (fixed @ 0.9%)
• Land Loan: $50k (ARM @ 3.8%)
• Credit Cards: paid off monthly

Me:

• 36 years old
• Unmarried
• No children
• HHI ~$200k

Some thoughts:

• Should I use some portion of the cash to pay off one or more loans?
• Should I consider taxable investments like mutual funds or ETFs?
• Should I try to take advantage of new account bonus offers from banks?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

(Cross-posted to /r/personalfinance)

[disneysteve]

Any money that you will need for the down payment on the next house should stay in the online savings account. The point is to keep it safe, not earn a good return on that money. Anything beyond that can either be invested of used to pay down the Land Loan. I wouldn't mess with the Auto Loan due to the low interest. The Land Loan gets you a 3.8% "return" and it's an ARM which means it will get more costly as rates drift up.

[bjl584]

I second Steve's advice.

What is the land loan exactly?
Are you planning to build?
Wondering what that is

[scfr]

I feel your pain regarding low interest rates.
Our situation is somewhat similar. We sold our paid-for home a little over 2 years ago and we had to do something with the proceeds while waiting to buy our next house (building now).
Our situation is different in that we are 20+ years older, no longer have any debt, and there are 2 of us.

We maximized our earnings the best we could in bank accounts, and that included the 3rd option you listed --- taking advantage of new account bonuses from banks. Also CDs, including no-penalty ones.
We also put a bit in non-FDIC-insured instruments in order to earn a bit more interest, but I wouldn't recommend that for you.

Regarding paying off the land loan I'd say maybe. Definitely worth considering. How many years are left on it?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Land Loan. What's it's for?

[Fishindude77]

What's your assurance that real estate prices are going to "cool"?
What may look high priced today could be a bargain if we get some inflation and interest rate increases.

[disneysteve]

What's your assurance that real estate prices are going to "cool"?

Yep. It's like all of the people sitting on cash waiting for the stock market to drop before they invest.

[CameronAlsop]

Good afternoon, it's good that you have already applied with detailed information about your situation. It is challenging for everyone with real estate since the market has fallen everywhere due to the pandemic situation in the world. The main thing is not to make quick decisions about the house, because now it is elementary to stumble upon scammers who profit from the grief and illnesses of people because of covid. I advise you to pay attention to Playa del Carmen Real Estate guys, as they are a proven and safe service that even my friends recommend. Study the market well, as this is a critical issue. I hope you will succeed and everything will be fine