Trapped in a bad investment in need of advise to stop the bleeding!

[Glen Smith]

In short five years ago and a few years out from retirement I decided to learn about real estate investing so I could be prepared to get more heavily involved upon my retirement. Although I learned some from a friend and the internet I wasn't ready by myself to put my toe in the water just yet so I contracted with a full service company to hold my hand and reduce risk until I had gained enough knowledge and confidence to go solo. I purchased a home from this company using a line of credit against my personal residence and not wanting to be stuck in a long term buy and hold I was advised to do a rent to own strategy for one year and sell to the renter at the projected higher price based on the renovations estimated by the company and submitted to the appraising company for a final ARV.

So I contracted with the company to find and manage the construction company, screen and place a tenant and advise me throughout this process. Well the deal went South fast with none of the contractors being able to do the renovations for the estimated cost and no suitable tenant could be found which delayed the project that much more and added to the over all cost. As I later learned my property was on the fringe of the war zone which later was absorbed into it when the housing bubble burst and my investment further deteriorated. After much frustrations and anger I eventually settled on one of the contractors that the company had provided but took over managing the contractor and placing a tenant just to stop the bleeding. Five years later and all the  damage from bad tenants and the hope that the market would get better have only made a bad decision much worst.

As I have stated this investment was made using a line of credit against my place of residence and I have since retired two years ago and need to except my loss. If the feds increase interest rates my situation will only get worst. I have learned a lot along the way but I'm stuck on this merry-go-round and have to get off. Any advise from the seasoned investors on how to creatively lesson by loss would be greatly appreciated and I hope by sharing my situation newbies and experienced investors alike will double their efforts on due diligence when doing every deal no matter how much you think you have limited your risk.

Currently the house has been vacant for the last five months after suffering another bad tenant who's salary is currently  garnished to pay for damages. Although the home is currently turn key I'm waiting to see if anyone from this forum can suggest a plan for a possible reduction in loss. Because of the length of this post I have not provided any figures or values but if someone is willing to brain storm on my behalf I will.

Thanks Everyone