Sell, rent, or live in first home as I begin to invest?

[Brenda C.]

Hello! I am new to this site, I've been reading through many posts and this looks like a wonderful community that I'm glad to have found.

I am interested in starting to invest in real estate flipping, but I am trying to get myself prepared to do so. Last July I purchased my first home, a 4br/2bth rowhouse. I was in a very emotional place at the time and did not make the best decision for myself and had bad guidance as a 1st time homebuyer. I was looking to help out family members that were moving into town that needed a place to stay. 6 months later, things are not working out with the family and I need to move on and pursue my goals of investing now that I have learned many lessons the hard way. The problem is my equity and most of my monthly income in tied up in this house. When my family moves out in a few months I won't have a need for a 4/2.5 (I added a powder room since purchasing it) for myself alone so I'm trying to figure out if I should sell, rent or stay. Right now none seems ideal, so I'm trying to figure it what would minimize losses. Here's the breakdown of each scenario:

Sell: I bought the house less than a year ago for 150K haven't built much equity, it's a city neighbohood where comparable homes can range from 100k-200k. Currently a short sale for another house on this row for 99k.

Rent: Rents for a comparable home are in range of 1300-1400, not sure if that would be enough to cover any potential repairs

Stay: I would have a lot more house than I need, most of my income will be tied and I'm not sure if property values will be increasing any time soon.

Thoughts? Recommendations? Thanks!