Options for Current Rental

[Stephanie Medina]

Hi all, I posted about this before but just wanted to come back with a little new info.  I'm new to real estate and want to grow my portfolio (a few years out from another), and I currently rent out our previous single family home.  It's a 3 bedroom/3.5 bath in a town home like community (they aren't connected though, so not a true town home) in the middle of Houston and built in 2017.  It's a gentrifying area, but directly next to a very nice area (The Heights for fellow Houstonians).  It is currently managed through Mynd, which I would like to change at the very least.  

Here are some of the monthly numbers:

Rent: $2450

Mortgage: $1161.48

Property Tax: $645

Home Insurance: $216.50

Property management: $139

Repair Savings: $73.50 

Vacancy: $122.50

Capital Expenditure: $182.75

Monthly Cash Flow: -$90.73

Here are my options:

1) Sell and re-invest the money.  This is the last year I can use the 2-out-of-5 years rule since I lived there 2 years ago, so there would be a tax advantage for selling now. I am a little worried about how long it would take considering it's feels like sort of a dime a dozen in the area.

2) My tenant is great right now (according to my old neighbors) and is up for renewal in April.  If they renew, I was thinking about making a deal with a realtor who said she would place tenants for me for 1 month rent and give me her contact lists (she has been in the industry for a very long time).  I would property manage the rest and/or find an hourly on-site manager.  My concern is distance from the rental and limited time I have right now, but like I said, the tenant is great so if they renew I do not think they would take up too much time. Also, the realtor is older and seems close to retirement. This would put the monthly cash flow slightly positive given that the tenants she places a long term.

3) Just find a different property manager

4) Try a STR management company. It is in an ideal area, 3 bedrooms, 3 parking spots (other similar homes nearby only have 2 garage parking spots).

Thoughts?