Conundrum over what to do with tri-plex

[Justen Ashcraft]

So, I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I purchased my first and currently 1 of 2 investment properties in 2013. It was an REO triplex that I was able to purchase for $119,000. 2 of the units needed paint and carpet, the 3rd needed all new flooring bathroom hardware, etc. I did the work myself on the lower unit once the top 2 were rented. It took me ~2 months and about ~$5k in materials. Currently the top 2 rent for $650 each, and the lower unit rents for $800(it's the size of the top 2 combined). For a total of $2100 gross income per month. My PIMI is ~$1000, including pmi. I purchased it with 5% down fha at 4.625% interest. Recently I took a look at the 3 comps used during the purchase. 2 of the 3 haven't changed hands, but 1 of them recently sold for 65% more than the previous sale in 2013. My question is what would you do if these 3 options? 1. Sell it? Possibly ask ~$200k (still over the 1% rule for someone.) 2. Refinance it? Dump the pmi refinance for 15 years at a lower interest rate, and pull out some $ for another property. 3. Don't do anything, and continue with a solid cash flow etc. Thanks in advance. I just think the market will be topping out soon and would like to take advantage of equity now if it's feasible.

[Jim D.]

If you time the market right and it only drops in value 15% before you buy in again, you'll probably do just as well to hold because you'll incur around 8% in selling costs, and make no return while sitting on the sidelines (assuming you don't invest the money productively elsewhere).