New to investing, but what to do with current rental

[Stephanie Medina]

I am brand new to the real estate investing world. I just finished The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner and Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth by Avery Carl. I have a few more books on my list to read, and a few aquaintantances involved in real estate I plan on meeting up with and learning more from.

Currently, I am probably 2-3 years from a down payment due to a number of factors. In the meantime, I've been wondering what to do with my only rental, which was our previous 3 bedroom townhome in central Houston that we decided to rent instead of sell and is currently managed by a big property management company.

Based on some of the numbers Brandon Turner talked about in his book I had not previously taken into account, I think our cash flow is a little negative every month. I'm hoping to get some input on what some of my options are. This is what I have right now:

A) Take over the property management myself. Time is an issue for me right now, but it's a newish home, and not many repairs, so most of the year it will be pretty minimal to keep on top of. I am just hesitant to manage the tenant turnover right now. I had a long conversation with the realtor that manages many of the townhomes in that area that said she would handle the tentant turnover for 1 month's rent, which sounds fairly standard (but I was going to get a few other opinions). In addition, she would give me a list to her vast contacts for maintenance and other work (e.g., she has a lady that does monthly walkthroughs of her own properties for $30 an hour).

B) Speak to a STR rental property. I went to an info session a realtor put on (an acquaintance of mine) that works with an STR company. They answered a lot of my questions and it might be a good fit for my properties location. I'd like to talk to more of the neighbors from the properties area about this option, and I'd have to figure out what to do with a 1-2x a year City of Houston plumbing issue (long story, but there may be steps I can take to protect my property from it) so it wouldn't affect guests.

C) Sell it (maybe not right now in the current climate) and use the properties to find more advantageous properties.

Any input for this real estate investing student? :) I am happy to share more info about the property if that would help.