To Sell Rental Condo or Not To Sell

[Brittany New]

Looking to get opinions on whether to sell an existing rental condo unit or hold on for a potentially bumpy ride.  My apologies for the lengthy context.

Purchase History: $180,000 in early 2009. Located in greater Fairfield, CT area.

Rental Property:  Condo currently serves as one-bedroom rental. It grosses $1,395 per month. Monthly cash flows cover the mortgage + HOAs + tax.

Problems:

Current CMA Value of Unit: Approximately $140,000.

Property Decline: Condo complex (brick) was built in 1967. It's suffered from neglect the last 10 years and is in disrepair. The HOA fees have been static for 9 years, however, there are no reserves left. I'm certain there are repairs that will be needed in the upcoming years.

Financials: The condo complex is approx. 50 units and collects $15,400 per month in HOA fees on average. Total expenses average $14,000 per month. For context, maintenance + repair costs are 15% of the monthly budget, insurance equates to 12%, and oil constitutes 25%. Management fee is 7% of the monthly budget at $13,000.

The Property Managers/ HOA Board does not contract an independent CPA/ accounting firm to generate audited financials, which is a problem. Furthermore, the "budgets" they've provided for the last three years are the exact same - a literal carbon copy except for the fiscal year period as a the heading.

Reserves: Reserve fund was at $16,000 in 2008 when purchased. Currently, there are no reserves remaining.  No reserve study has been conducted as far as I can tell.

Impending Costs: No assessments have been levied yet, but repairs will likely be needed. Parking Lot will need repaving (estimates at $150,000); windows and common space areas are dated w/ wallpaper falling off and poor insulation. Roof (flat roof) is 10 years old. Water valves need replacing. 

HOA: Comprised of owners with very little real estate experience. HOA President owns a unit, but lives in another town. Prior HOA President is on the existing board and it creates gridlock with existing President. There have been no formal meetings in over a year. There is no communication to the owners other than paper fliers posted on some of the main entryway doorways. No online communication, website, or community listserv. Board have declined to invest in any proactive repairs to maintain the property's value.

Property Management: Absent from the equation. Non-responsive and non-transparent. When I had asked for a copy of the financials, the response I got was "why do you need them, no one looks at them anyway." 

Ratio of Rentals/ Owner Occupied: I do not know. I've not been given access to this information. My guess is 30-35%.

I am leaning toward selling the unit, given the lack of financial disclosure, the impending costs for repairs due to deterioration, and poor management of the HOA (above all else). Looking at the unit I own in isolation, the "math" works, given the net monthly cash flows relative to expenses are still net positive. The cap rate is approximately 9%, which isn't terrible in the area. That said, however, if progress to repair the complex was not made on the complex during times of economic growth and low interest rates, my fear is that there will be an unwillingness to increase HOAs / be able to pay assessments during an economic decline or an increasing interest rate environment, putting the complex on a path to further decline. My thought: It's one thing to sell a house, it's another thing to sell a house on fire. I'd rather do the former than wait and run the risk of dealing with lender financing issues, high assessments when trying to sell later on.

Any and all recommendations/ suggestions are much appreciated! Thank you!