Thinking of selling a home in Decatur, GA

[Hyun Supul]

Hello all, I have a few single family houses in GA. The one in Decatur, GA has been giving me some problems. I brought this for 70K and Redfin and etc says it's worth about 200K now, giving me about 150K equity. I am thinking of selling this into a 1031 exchange. The dilemma of course is that the mortgage rate is very high now. But an option for me would be to use this for an almost-cash-deal. For example, If I buy a 200K house with a cap rate of 7% or higher, with a 75% down payment (as an example) I figure I can still significantly increase the cashflow.  Now the deals within GA with high cap rates are getting rarer. So, I am thinking of buying in other states. This is somewhat frustrating times. But I wish to find ways to increase my cashflow.

If you have any thoughts, comments or advice I would appreciate. If you know a trustworthy realtor who serves the area I would not mind a referral either. Thanks

Hyun

[Hyun Supul]

Hi @Dave Foster and @Michael Dumler I greatly appreciate your replies. I would not mind sharing details over private messages but let me try to share some basic answers.
 

My number one why is my wish to generate better cashflow, as the property hasn't cash flowed properly for over nine months. The property manager has been sending bills for expensive repairs like never before. As an OOS investor (I live in MA) I could not verify the validity of these bills. 

But let's assume that the problems are over, and the property starts to cashflow again. When compared to my initial investment, the ROI would be considered excellent in that case. But when compared to the equity, the return on equity would be considered mediocre at best. I believe a recent BP podcast talked about the importance of "return on equity". So IF I can find a 150K house with 7+% cap rate the return would be noticeably better than my current situation with the property. (At the current rent and fixed expense, the ideal cashflow from the property would not be much more than 4% compared to the equity.) I could consider something like buying a 600K multi family property if the numbers are right. But I understand in some markets these days even a 600K multi family property might not cashflow.

I admit I am feeling a little bit impatient after the losses. But I have life goals that I set for myself that require better cashflow sooner than later. So I may want to keep other properties for longer term appreciation and other options, but I feel I should try to see what I can to increase my cashflow this year. Thank you for your advice and thoughts.