Should I sell?

[Travis Beehler]

Hi all!

Love the forums, and the openess of everyone on here.

So, here's my situation.

I have a full time job, making $75k a year.  Rock solid job, good benefits, blah, blah.

I currently own 3 rentals.

Rental one:  A few miles from my house, bought in 2011 for $110k, put 20% down, rents out for $995 a month, netting $250 a month.  Refinanced it when the market took off, pulled $40k out, now currently owe $125k, rents for $1020 a month, netting me around $45 a month.  Currently worth $176k.

Rental two:  In another state, listed for $45k, bought for $40k.  Put $10k down plus closing costs, in September.  Tenant moved in on December 5th, first rental check will arrive first week of January.  Rents for $795 a month, netting $366 a month.

Rental three:  In another state, bought for $57k, put down $14,250 plus closing costs in November.  Tenant moving in next week, should get first check around mid January.  This place had much higher costs than I anticipated, so netting $142 a month.  This one was a learning experience of what questions to ask. :)

So, the question is:  Should I sell the first rental, take my roughly $50k, and buy 3-4 more places in the other state, and pull in significantly more rental income?  I don't anticipate these places growing in terms of value, just in raw monthly rental income.

Rental two was the gold standard for what I'm looking for, so I'm going to keep my eyes on that style of place, as well as rent vs. price ratios.

If I were to find another place like Rental Two, which there are lots of them around, I would be going from $45 a month, to around $1098 to $1464 a month.  Depending on if I get 3 rentals or 4.

Rental One will likely have growth of around 3-4% per year in property value.

Thanks everyone for your input!